3P>* >■ 






> ' <A 








> ./ ^ *'^ 




.±> ; ■■■'■•£ 3^JikJS3 




^ ^ &> '-^S 




> * a «.*. ^ 










1» 


? i* 




> / ^^r 


ft>_> ^ 




^^* 




ro>J^fc ^ 


iTO^ ; -«J^^ 


-— JF^fc 


1 "— ' '" «x. 


» ^> > >> 


D^Watf 




^H^E2^ 


+ > 








m> :> :>>J3 


» 


^-K 


E3^-^B_ 


p 


3EZH*> 


^SC 


1 jSj^"-" ^i *5v 


QBp^ 




fejZM 




> ^^ 




f *j' 


b 






^ 


?4. 


3 


1 >HuE 
I 

1 




>i 




1 

1 ■* -^B 




; 


2* 
> 


|^>^ 




1 .^^ 

■ J^ >' j *SO J^y >fr^ vVfc 


.AX""" 


">,• 


l>c 


>3*L> J J 




S" 


> 


l>~^ 


p* 










1 

> 




]» 


> > / 


1 ■*'- 


O 


^^^^ 


_^ ' 




.-?><!* 


^^ 


>' 



>3S% 




w 




^■■WATii 



fiW 



v v y 



W 



^ iW 






mm' 






. >-- 



w ^ ^ ^i" W 



V 



;■»« 










Vvw 









mJww Cc 



wu 






WViiJuLovLl 



M9P 






•s «w 



Vtf 



VWV 



MMiPmeW 



Ma 






JW"n™" 



iv^i^i^> 



VV 



^■W'vjI 



«Hk«yy 



W*i 



\fl& 



II 



VVvw ; 



K';zfi«y 



SELECTIONS 



FROM tin: 



IL IE *T T M 31 



op 



THOMAS 13. GOULD, 



MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IX THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS; 



with 



MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE. 

BY 

WILLIAM HODGSON. 



"Let it not be a light thing in thine eyes, that He now accounteth thee worthy to 
suffer among His choice lambs, that lie might make thy crown weightier, and thine 
inheritance the fuller." — Letter from I. Penington, in Aylesbury Jail, to T. Ellwood, a pri- 
soner at Oxford. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

FOR BALE BY. TIIE EDITOR, NO. 7U ARCH ST., 
AND BY ISRAEL UUFFINTON, FALL BIYERj MASSACHUSETTS. 

PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN ft SON. 

1860. 



t# 



At q Meeting for Sufferings of New England Yearly Meeting of 
nds, held at Newport, \l. I.. 3d of 8th month, I860, — 

reading of the Writings and Memoirs of our dear departed 
rhomas B. Gonld, prepared by Win. Bodgson, Jr., of Philadel- 
phia, which lias occupi< ral fittings of this meeting, at various 
times, has been now concluded. During the time in which we have 
i thus engaged, we have been much comforted and edified by this 
record of the remarkable faithfulness and devotion of our dear Friend 
to th e of Truth and Righteousness in the earth; and believing 
that usefulness would result from a more general circulation and perusal 
of these Writings, the Editor is left at liberty to publish the same; and 
the' Clerk is requested to furnish him with a copy of this minute. 
ied on behalf of the Meeting aforesaid. 

GEORGE F. READ, 

Clerk. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Minute of New England Meeting fur Sufferings, ... 3 

Preface, 7 

CHAPTER I. 

From his Birth to the year 1837 — Education — Youth — Early 

Memoranda and Letters — View of the coming Defection, . 25 

CHAPTER II. 

From 1838 to 1840 — Interview with Joseph John Gurney — 

Sundry Letters respecting the Defection, .... 89 

CHAPTER III. 

From 1840 to 1843 — Comes forth in the ministry — Marriage — 

Correspondence during the persecution of J. Wilbur, . . 141 

CHAPTER IV. 

From 1843 to 1845 — Persecuted for his faithful Testimony — 
Gross perversion of the Discipline — Brought under" dealing" 
by the ruling party — Progress of the Gurney Schism, . . 181 

CHAPTER V. 

From 1845 to 1852 — Separation in New England Yearly Meet- 
ing — Eastern journeys with Committees — And in the Ministry, 244 

1* 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

to 1854 — Sermon at Little Comptoo — Letters on 
the Pi ...... 310 

CHAPTER VII. 

] B3 I — V I >hio — Gurnejr Beparation in that Yearly 

M' • — \ • • i If aryland, Pennsylvania, an«l New Jersey, 338 

[APTER Yl'll. 

■ in L856 — Visit to Vermont and New 

and Death, 406 



P R E F A C E. 



It may be well to premise to the following work, a few general 
remarks, for the encouragement of a living remnant, and for the 
information of that portion of its readers who may not have had 
a char understanding of the ground, nature, and tendency of the 
>wful lapse which has spread over a large portion of the 
Society of Friends, within the past twenty-five years, through 
the introduction of doctrines contrary to those always held by its 
faithful members from the beginning. 

True Friends have ever believed that this people was raised up 
of the great Head of the church universal, to testify to the almost 
forgotten truth, that the Light of Christ in the soul is the imme- 
diate divine source of all true religion ; and to bear a living wit- 

- to the life-giving efficacy of the Gospel, as " the power of 
God unto salvation to every one that belicveth." This great 
truth, which lies as a corner-stone to that fabric of practical 
doctrine which has distinguished the Society of Friends from 
other professors of the Christian name, w r as announced on various 
occasions and in divers manners, by our blessed Lord and his 
apostles. They spoke of "the true Light that lighteth every 
man that cometh into the world" — "the ingrafted Word, which 
is able to save the soul" — "the Word nigh in the heart" — the 
Light that "maketh manifest" — "the Grace of God, which 
bringeth salvation [and] hath appeared unto all men" — the 
"Comforter," the Holy Spirit, who should "bring all things to 
remembrance," and " guide into all truth" — "Christ in you the 
hope of glory" — even come a "second time, without sin ; unto 



viii PREJ a< i 

Balvation" to all them that and obey his voice. Oar 

wn words wen — " Abide in rae, and I [will abide] in 

"— "he that is with you shaJl be in you" — " i in them, and 

i in me" — and "whosoever loveth me, my Father will love 

him, and wc will come unto him, and make our abode with him." 

Holy a: I And who can doubt that a substantial 

reality was intended by these repeated assurances? 

It was tin-. i to the humbling and purifying ope- 

rations of this Spirit in the bouI, and obedience to its successive 

infestations, that our , asors were brought to know by 

nee for themselves the blessed truths of the Gospel j and 

were made quick of understanding to perc< ive the falsifications and 

perversions by which the profession of Christian doctrine bad 

:, beclouded, in the long and dark night of apostasy, which tbc 

!i of the Reformation from Popery had then only partially 

dispelled. The "dayspring from on high," which mercifully 

Bhined into their souls, and to which they faithfully gave heed, 

to a clear appreciation of the ''perfect day" of the 

Gospel n ; and they were enabled to put away those 

3 and man-made accompaniments and impediments to 

Christianity, with which carnal contrivance had burdened it, and 

under tin delusive influence of which, many were " ever learning, 

and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

nee to this principle of Light and I trace in the soul, and 

miii|. le dependence upon it- teaching, produced also a clear sight 

and I, and of the ways of His providence 

mankind; and tin- doctrines of the Gospel, in accordance with 

Holy Scriptun — mysteries unknown to the 

merely natural mind — were thereby opened to them and scaled 

n their understanding that they could Bay, they h 

truth, and the truth had made them free. Herein they were 

wards of the mys fGod, Baw, eve to eye, the deep 

thii f Bis Kingdom, spoke one language, and promulgated 

an entire harmony of doctrine. It is doubtful whether any other 

would be able I i present so large an amount of 

rsial, didactic, and biographical, in support of 



PBEFAl IX 

heir own faitn, published daring an equal period, as the Societ; 

Frienda produced daring the fire! thirty years of its distincl e 
enoe as a bodyj and all this was of one and the Bame faith with 
that of Bueceeding periods, notwithstanding the bold assertions to 
the contrary, put forth by recent authors, [ndeed it is wonderful, 
considering the great variety of mental character, and of the 
circumstances of life and education under which they had previ- 
ously hum placed, how great was the uniformity of doctrine anion'.: 
them from the very first ; and this fact seems clearly to confirm us 
in the belief that the Lord himself was their Leader and their 
Teacher. 

The various Christian testimonies which they were thus led to 
promulgate to the world, were parts of one great divine law, — 
fruit of one tiv. — branches of the one stem, — even of the princi- 
ple of Light and Life in the hearts of the faithful. They found 
that a close adherence to this holy law written in the heart 
brought them into a true unity and fellowship with Christ and 
one with another; and they saw that all departures from the 
unity of this faith had their beginning in a departure from this 
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, by which an entrance 
was allowed to the Tempter to beguile and lead astray; so that 
none who had once known the truth could depart from and oppose 
any part of this fabric of doctrines, but they who had first de- 
parted in heart from that which was the corner-stone thereof. 
Thus their endeavors to restore transgressors and those who had 
fallen away from any of the testimonies of their profession, were 
principally or primarily directed towards awakening again a sin- 
cere and humble dedication of heart to the Lord in his inward 
manifestations; knowing that if the Witness for truth could be 
raised again into dominion in that heart, the branches which had 
withered would soon recover their vitality and health. Yet they 
ceased not, for all this, to point out the errors which such were in, 
and faithfully and openly to testify against them. 

Clear and sound they were in the faith, that lie who was the 
eternal Word and Son of God, was manifested in the flesh, and 
u bore our sins in his own body on the tree," as an atonement for 



PRI 

irorldj \ it justification, 

'a hand of the Father as our Int- re< sa >r 

• nt with this was their belief, 

. once for all, without the 

mailable to mankind indi- 

ait in heart and mind to the cleansing and 

tions "l" Bis visiti G and indwelling Spirit, 

.kin^l' • ; ; . leadings oi the light thereof. So 

j to the soul's welfare, 

if Christ into the soul, — to enlighten 

it by J [saving Light t i Bee the nature and depth 

Saviour to deliver it from sin; to refine and 

purify it l'v the washing of n bion, and the renewing of the 

host ; to lead and guide it into all truth, mid qualify and 

th< n it, according to His will, for every good thought, word, 

deed, — than it was, I i discard and deny Bis miraculous c 

in the flesh, for that perfect example, and great offering for Bin, 

I all that Hi- did for us, without us, in that prepared body in 

ich Be was men." They knew, that while "no man 

oe to the Father but by Christ," yet no man can availingly 

j, Lord, but by the Boly Ghost;" and that therefore, 

lation of Christ to the bouI being that which 

aloi Is to every individual any true and solid foundation for 

: Ihrist, an attempt to invalidate this great funda- 

;t:d truth, must ho nt least equally offensive in the Divine 

118 to the BOttls of men, as the denial of the 

Bini who was made flesh and offered Himself 

an . til for tie- Bins of the whole world — awful and ever to 

ich denial but They could Bay from living 

•• V\ ■ that the Son of I lod is coin.-, and hath 

'i us an understanding that we may know Him that is true;" 

and th.y were well assured, that they who have received this 

mai Mid abide true to it. never can deny that which He 

ntwardl] r man in tint aoce] table offering ; for th 

i th.- ne ible of its efiioacy and blessed sweet- 

in">s to thrir 



I'Rl-T.V \t 

It can scarcely hm ped the notice of candid persons con- 

ii the writing ar forefathers, h ln< ntly 

sensitive tl. • to any misrepresentations of their faith or 

docti md how ready they always appeared to defend the 

truth and to disprove the allegations of it- opponents. They held 
that pure divine truth was more to be cherished than any other 
;i with which it had pleased Divine Wisdom to intrusl 
them, for the best welfare of mankind. Many were the occasions 
on which, either through the enmity of their persecutors, or the 
envy and malice of false and apostatized brethren, their zeal \ 
aroused in defence of the doctrines of the Gospel. G< >rge i 
himself set an example, in stepping Forward with his pen to the 

ike of gainsayers and the clearing of the church from | 
version or reproach. And on the occasion of that extensive and 
trial to Friends by the apdstasy of Wilkinson, Story, and 
Rogers, many eminent members were engaged in controverting 
their errors and opposing their schism, both orally and in printed 
Of written communications. The most prominent ministers and 
elders in the Society were often, and for a long time together, 
laboriously engaged in this work; and this they did promptly 
and openly, for the preservation of the flock, and the clearing 
away of reproach from the precious cause which they espoused. 
And greatly blessed was their labor of love and true zeal, to the 
confirmation of many, and to the conviction and restoration of 

ie that had erred. But where this was not the result — even 
where error succeeded in drawing away disciples after it — the 
faithful servant having done what he could was clear; and the 
church was clear by issuing and maintaining its testimony against 
such errors, and against those engaged or led away therein. And 
they who stood to the original acknowledged faith of the body, 
were always accepted as the true members of the Society, without 
question from friends or foes. 

Robert Barclay, in his u Apology for the true Christian Divi- 
nity," in mentioning the characteristics of a true and living 
church of Christ, gives this as a distinguishing one, that it con- 
sists of those who are not only gathered into a belief of the true 



PREFACE. 

pni :m.l doctrines of the Christian faith, but who are also 

■v a joint testimony for the truth and against 

and 50 becoming, through this 

iwship, as one family and household." 

About the time of the defection of Wilkinson, Story, and 

I: ere, ab we mentioned, K. Barclay published his celebrated 

i Church Government, entitled "The Anarchy of the 

." &C.J in which he clearly advocated the necessity of 

those from the communion of the gathered church, 

who persist in promulgating doctrines adverse to its ancient faith ; 

. without regard to the question of numbers, sustained the 

undenii rition of those who remain firm and faithful to the 

ginal principles of the Society. In this work he says: 

•• Now it' any one or more so engaged with us, should arise to 

• trine or doctrines, contrary to these which were 

the ground of our being one, who can deny but the body hath 

er in Buoh a case to declare, { This is not according to the truth 

we : and therefore we pronounce such and such doctrines 

to 1 -. with which we cannot have unity, nor yet any more 

itual fellowship with those that hold them.' And so, such 

Ives oil' from being members, by dissolving the very 

1 by which they were linked to the body." .... "As, 

if a body be gathered into one fellowship by the belief of certain 

principles, he that comes to believe otherways, naturally scattereth 

himself; for that the cause, that gathered him, is taken away." 

What R. Barclay had in view, in .-peaking as above of "the 

not necessarily the plurality, or majority, as is mani- 

ing passage taken from his Postscript or 

u Vindication" of his work on Church Government, viz. : "The 

is only and alone in the Spirit, not necessarily 

aeral assemblj ; but if it please God to make use of 

embly, yet neither to the plurality of them, but in and 

such of His servants as Be sees meet. And that none 

or ( an be Bupposed to be members of such an assembly, 

I such from whom such a judgment can be expected, 
1. unless they be men in whom the Grace 



I'll K FACE. Xlil 

of (Jod not only is, bat hath truly wrought to mortify and regene- 
rate them in a good measure : in whom the judgment of truth 

really proceeding from the Spirit, will bo manifest to all who are 

truly faithful ," &0. 

Auain R. Barclay say-, in the same treatise : u Suppose a people 
really gathered unto the true and certain principles of the Gospel ; 

if any of these people shall arise and contradict any of those funda- 
mental truths, whether have not such as stand, good right to cast 
such a one out from among them, and to pronounce positively, — 
This is contrary to the truth we profess and own ; and therefore 
ought to be rejected, and not received, nor yet he that asserts it, 
as oue of us? And is not this obligatory on all the members, 
seeing all are concerned V* &c. And again : u For seeing it is so, 
that in the true church there may men arise, and speak perverse 
things contrary to the doctrine and Gospel already received; what 
is to be the place of those that hold the pure and ancient truth ? 
Must they look upon these perverse men still as their brethren ? 
Must they cherish them as fellow-members ? Or must they judge, 
condemn, and deny them V* 

And further on, he remarks: "If God has gathered a people 
by this means into the belief of one and the same truth, must not 
they, if they turn and depart from it, be admonished, reproved, 
and condemned ? Yea, rather than those that are not yet come 
to the truth ; because they crucify afresh unto themselves the 
Lord of Glory, and put Him to open shame." . . . " Were 
such a principle to be received or believed, that in the church of 
Christ no man should be separated from, no man condemned or 
excluded the fellowship and communion of the body, for his judg- 
ment or opinion in matter of faith, then what blasphemies so 
horrid, — what heresies so damnable, — what doctrine of devils — 
but might harbor itself in the church of Christ? What need 
then of sound doctrine, if no doctrine make unsound?" &c. . . 

" So that from all that is above mentioned, we do safely con- 
clude, that where a people are gathered together into the belief 
of the principles and doctrines of the Gospel of Christ, if any of 
that people [mark, without limitation as to a small or a large 

2 



xiv PREFACE. 

number] shall go from their principles, and assert things false 
and contrary to what they have ahvadv received ; such as stand 
and abide firm in the faith, have power by the Spirit of ( ! od, 

after they have used Christian endeavors to convince and reclaim 
them, upon their obstinacy, to separate from sitrh, and to exclude 
them from their spiritual fellowship and communion: for other- 
ways, if this be denied, farewell to all Christianity, or to the 
maintaining of any sound doctrine in the church of Christ/' 

A few pages afterwards, It. Barclay adds: " Or on the other 
hand, that those that abide faithful, and have a discerning of 
those evils, ought to be silent, and never ought to reprove or gain- 
stand them, nor yet warn and guard others against them; and 
that it is a part of the commendable unity of the church of Christ, 
to suffer all such things without taking notice of them — I know 
none [that] will say so ; but if there be any so foolish as to affirm 

it, let them consider these Scriptures/ ' &c, &C 

" For though Christ be the Prince of peace, and doth most of all 
commend love and unity to His disciples; yet I also know He 
' came not to send peace, but a sword/ that is, in dividing man 
from the lusts and sins he hath been united to. And also it is 
the work of His disciples and messengers to break the bands and 
unity of the wicked, wherein they are banded against God and 
His truth, and the confederacy of such as stand in unrighteous- 
ness, by inviting and bringing as many as will obey, unto right- 
eousness ; whereby they become disunited and separated from their 
companions, with whom they were centred, and at peace, in the 
contrary and cursed nature. And indeed, blessed are thej/, that 
are sent forth of the Lord to scatter here, that they may gather 
into the unity of the life : and they are blessed, that, in this 
respect, even for righteousness' sake, are scattered and separated 
from their brethren, that they may come to know the brotherhood 
and fellowship which is in the Light; from which none ought to 
scatter, nor to be scattered, but be more and more gathered 
thereunto." 

Cono< ruing the right and power of decision in the church, 11. 
Barclay says: "The only proper judge of controversies in the 



PBBFA< xv 

church, is the Spirit of God 5 and the power of deciding solely lieci 
in it; as having the only unerring, infallible, and certain judg- 
ment belonging to it: which infallibility is not necessarily an- 
nexed to any persons, person, or places whatsoever, by virtue of 

any office, place, or Btation any one may have or have had in the 

body of Christ That is to say, that any have ground to reason 
thus, — becaose T am or have been such an eminent member, there- 
fore my judgment is infallible; or, because ice are the greatest 
number ; or, that we live in such a noted or famous place, or the 
like; — though some of these reasons may and ought to have their 
weight in ease of contradictory assertions; yet not so, as upon 
which, either mainly or only, the infallible judgment is to be 
plaeed : but upon the Spirit, as that which is the firm and im- 
movable foundation/ 1 

Near the close of this treatise, he says : "This infallible judg- 
ment is only and unalterably annexed and seated in the Spirit 
and power of God ; not to any particular person or persons, meet- 
ing or assembly, by virtue of any settled ordination [he might 
have said ' organization'], office, place, or station that such may 
have, or have had, in the church ; no man, men, nor meeting, 
standing or being invested in any authority in the church of 
Christ upon other terms, than so long as he or they abide in the 
living sense and unity of the life in their own particulars ; which, 
whosoever, one or more [mark that expression — one or more], in- 
wardly departs from, ipso facto loses all authority, office, or certain 
discerning, he or they formerly have had ) though retaining the 
true principles and sound form, and (may be) not fallen into any 
gross practices, as may declare them generally to be thus withered 
and decayed." 

This work of Robert Barclay's, on u Church Government/' as 
well as his great work, the " Apology," has received the official 
sanction of the Society of Friends from its first publication ; and 
the candid reader will excuse the extent of the above quotations 
therefrom, on the consideration of the remarkable adaptation of 
the positions advanced therein, to the circumstances of the present 
times in the Society, and to the subjects alluded to throughout 



XVI l'UKFACE. 

the following volume. And does it not follow from R. Barclay's 
reasoning, that if an individual member, or a meeting of the 
Society, or even a number of meetings, large or small, associated 
together, Bhould persist in giving countenance to fundamental 
error or departure from the ancient faith of the body, such indi- 
viduals or meetings must thereby lose their standing in the church, 
and all right authority therein which they might have had whilst 
living and abiding in the truth ? And if bo, how can the still 
living branches of the Vine hesitate in withdrawing from com- 
munion with Buch, and declaring them separated from that of 
whose san and life they are permitted to partake ; lest by continuing 
connected with them, and thus conniving at their lapse, they 
should themselves be infected by contact with a lifeless portion of 
the body? 

The Society, though abounding in the good things of this life, 
and enjoying the esteem, instead of the enmity of the world — and 
perhaps in part as a consequence thereof — has of late years been 
laden with distress and perplexity. The past thirty-five years 
have seen it sorrowfully torn by two fearful defections from the 
faith of our forefathers, far surpassing any or all previous ones in 
the extent of the devastation produced within its borders, and of 
the reproach thereby brought upon the cause of truth. The one 
was, in effect, a denial of the outward, or what our Saviour has 
done for us without us — the other, a discarding of the inward, or 
what He is to do for us individually, within us. The first, the 
heresy <>{ Elias Hicks and his coadjutors, was characterized by a 
denial of the miraculous birth and divine Sonship of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ, and his atonement for the sins of the whole 
w<»rld ; by a light esteem of the Holy ScrirTtures j and by a general 
laxity of religious faith and life, bordering more or less on deism, 
and clearly evincing their departure in heart from Him who is 

the Sanctifier and holy Leader of his people. Against this defec- 
tion many faithful brethren openly testified, and labored diligently 

to expose its awfully delusive and destructive nature, and to pre- 
serve the flock, as much as might be, IVom it< poisonous effects. But 

in sonic places the power and influence of popular leaders induced 



PREFACE, wii 

i numb Bf in the schism, leaving in many in-tan 

l>ut a until remnant to sustain the true Society in certain looaliti 
Set to these was readily accorded by the Booiety elsewhere, the 
undoubted claim to recognition and fellowship, without any further 

rd to the smallness of their numbers than as their sympathies 
were thereby additionally aroused on their behalf, as the records 
of those days will amply Bhow. The question was, which party 
faithfully adhered to the ancient doctrines and practices — not, 
which had the numerical majority, or retained the meeting-houses, 
in any portion of the heritage. 

The other great defection from the true foundation of Quaker- 
ism, in our day, has been that distinguished by the name of its 
chief author and prominent promoter,- Joseph John Gurney, which 

of a far more insinuating and widely delusive character. In 
this instance, the cunning enemy adapted his stratagem to suit the 
proclivities of a people ricli and full, learning to court the world 
and avoid the humiliating submission to the cross of Christ, and 
placing too great a reliance upon mere human learning and 
acquirements, and accordingly the system now presented for the 
acceptance of the unwary, was based upon the idea that a know- 
ledge of religious truth and duty was to be obtained through an 
intellectual belief and study of the Holy Scriptures; and character- 
ized by views of a worldly nature, disparaging to the inward work 
of Divine Grace as the groundwork; and discarding several of the 
spiritual doctrines of our early Friends, and their published works 
ae i ^positions of what was now to be believed. The "Beacon" 
schism in England, of 1835 and 1836, was merely the premature 
offshoot hereof, or the premonitory symptoms of the disease which 
had already begun to lurk in secret, and was thwarting the appli- 
cation of preventives or remedies adequate to the danger. 

When we consider the different features of these two successive 
defections, we are, even at first sight, repelled and disgusted by the 
coarse character of the wild unbelief of Elias Hicks, in regard to 
that which our blessed Lord Jesus Christ did for mankind in that 
prepared body in the days of his flesh ; and might almost be induced 
to look with leniency on the later departure, BO fraught with a 



XVlll I'RKFACE. 

plausible Bhowof what appears outwardly good unto men; did we 
lmt lim], on a near inspection and comparison of it with what has 
already been seen in the Light to be the path which the vulture's 
eye hath not seen, that in this heresy lurks a still greater danger 
to the integrity bf the church, on the very account of its insinu- 
ating nature, by which it would appear, as it were, as an angel of 
light, to the unwary mind, and thereby is calculated to draw away 
great numbers who would not have dared to embrace the open 
errors of Bicksism. The system of J. J. Gurney came over the 
Society SO stealthily, BO amiably as it were, BO beautifully in its 
superficial aspect, bo pleasingly to the natural affections and to 
the benevolent tendencies of cultivated minds, so attractively to 
the great bulk of nominal professors, — it was so calculated to win 
for Friends the good will and esteem of others, instead of their 
jealousy and enmity, — and so apparently parallel at first were its 
paths (to the eye that looked at it but slightly) with that which 
by many was looked upon as the true path of their profession, — 
that great multitudes were entangled in it, before they suspected 
anything more than supposed improvements of sentiment and 
language, conformable to the polish of the nineteenth century. 
Yet there were, even early in the inroads of this great defection, 
some deeply experienced and faithful servants of the Most High, 
whose inward eye being kept in the Head, and open to the un- 
foldings of I lis wisdom, was rencwcdly anointed and enabled to 
detect the snare thus laid for the unwary; and these mourned 
ever the lapse which they saw impending over this people. For 
J, .). Gurney, by his position iii the community at large, and in 
the Society, attracted to his support the influence of many standing 
as leaders and occupying posts of much power; and though he was 
imt without admonition, even early in his career as an author, yet 
preferring his own ways, and the learning of the schools, to the 
wisdom of those who had learned it at the school of Christ, he 

proceeded to add volume to volume in great profusion, spreading 

whole editions of some of his works gratuitously ; and soon acquired 
;it authority, and almost superseded the previous publications 
ot* the Society on the tables of the members, by the over- 
whelming number- of his own. 



PRKFAOE. 112 

This Beed produced its natural Bruit ; for notwithstanding bha 
testimony openly borno against it, by such servants of Chris! as 
Thomas Shillitoc, John and Lydia Ann Barclay, Sarah L.Orubb, 
and Ann Jones, John Harrison, Thomaq Hancock, and 
others in England, and many gifted and faithful ones in America, 
the voicesofthe multitude in favor of a popular religion prevailed 
to Buch an extent, as to render the primitive principles and prac- 
tices of the Society distasteful to a very large proportion of the 
members. It is needless here to trace the successive Bteps of this 
Bad departure. The inquiring reader may find them in some of 
the published official documents of Philadelphia and New England 
W arly Meetings, and may learn many features of its progress by 
an attentive perusal of the " Journal of John Wilbur/' and the 
contained in this volume.* 

Thomas J3. Gould was one of the first in New England, who 
clearly discerned the nature of this awful defection, and the 
probable results to be apprehended from its being allowed to 
spread unrestrained over the land; and was constrained to stand 
in the breach, in conjunction with his beloved and honored friend 
John Wilbur, and other honest-hearted and unflinching servants 
of Christ, in an early stage of its appearance in this country. 
Bis letters, written during the troubles brought by this schism 
upon the Society in New England, show the constancy of his zeal 
in testifying against its inroads, and in warning his friends to 
beware of its fascinations. Many of these letters are too ample 
in their details for insertion in this work, and may furnish valu- 
able material for the future historian ; but the portions selected 
for our present purpose will almost furnish of themselves a con- 

* For distinct and detailed information relative to the nature of this defec- 
tion, and the essential difference of doctrine and practice between the position 
taken by the Gurney party, and that of Friends from the beginning, the 
reader is referred to the "Appeal for the Ancient Doctrine-,'" &c., published 
by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1847; the " Pteport on the Division in 
New England Yearly Meeting," issued by the same Yearly Meeting in 1849 ; 
the " Journal and Correspondence of John Wilbur, 1850 ;" and an "Examina- 
tion of the Memoirs and Writings of J. J. Gurney,'' by W. Hodgson, Phila- 
delphia, 1856. 



x\ PBBFAl 

bed narrative of the exereises and trials which, from time to 
time, were his portion, in opposing the progress of innovation, or 
in defending the truth and his own position in it. These letl 
may possibly appear to some to dwell much on his own afiairs. 

]>ut it will be well to remember that they wore addressed, in 
most instances, to his intimate and familiar friends, who, as he 

knew, felt a lively interest in whatever concerned him and the 
cause, and wore desirous of such intelligence from time to time. 
It was als i the aim of the editor, in making the selection, to 
present especially such portions of the correspondence, as alluded 
most particularly to the successive events and circumstances form- 
ing the main features of his pilgrimage; and many portions of a 
different character have necessarily been omitted, as their insertion 
would have swelled too voluminously the bulk of the work. 

It will be ^cn by the reader, that Thomas 11. Gould partook 
largely of the distresses brought upon a sensitive mind by the 
machinations of a crafty and envious party spirit, whose evil 
reports continually assailed him in one way or another, either 

retly or openly. Yet these things turned him not from his 
Steadfastness. "The archers shot at him — but his bow abode in 
Btrength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the 
mighty God of Jacob." And he had not only the unity of the 
faithful, in standing firmly as he did for the truth, but also the 
inward testimony of the blessed Comforter, from time to time 
vouchsafed, that his labors ill this cause were acceptable in the 
sight of 1 1 i n i with whom he had to do. 

As a citizen, Thomas B. Gould was known and acknowledged, 
through bis native city and island, for unquestionable candor, in- 
to grity, and uprightness. J I is every-day demeanor was that of a 

liple of Christ, with a sobriety and gravity which bespoke his 
earnestness, and at once impresse I th ee who mot with him, that 
ho was endeavoring in sincerity to walk worthy of his high voca- 
tion and holy profession, lie w;is diligent in his outward bush. 

when health and intervals from religious engagements permitted, 
often toiling through a gieat portion of the night, to take advan- 
tage of favorable weather, and make up for time unavoidably 



PR1 i \< \xi 

it in other avocations or duties; and he was conscientiously 
careful in Fulfilling all his pecuniary obligations. Il«' had a keen 
relish for the beauties of the outward creation, and loved at times 
to point out to bis familiar friends the admirably works of the 
itor. ITet be was religiously concerned to keep the world 
under his feet, in view of that better country in which his hopes 
wore centred ; esteeming the riches and gratifications of this world 
hut as a worthless bauble, in comparison with the pearl of great 
price, and the sweet evidence of acceptance with Hiiu who said 
unto Simon Peter, u Lovesl thou inc more than tin 

As a minister of the Gospel, he was justly esteemed by his 
fellow-citizens ; who knew the sincerity of his heart, ami divers of 
whom, including ministers of various denominations, occasionally 
hearing him, were deeplj affected by his appeals to the unflattering 
Witness in their souls, and could not refrain from the inward 
acknowledgment, and sometimes the open and even public avowal 
of their conviction, of the wisdom and power and unction attending 
his advocacy of the pure doctrines of the Gospel. Hairing been 
very early in life made acquainted with the principles of truth, 
and having measurably conformed his life in obedience to the 
successive manifestations of the Light of Christ as his Leader, 
his spiritual faculties strengthened and matured beyond those of 
most young men of his years; and thus, being advanced to the 
stature of "a man in Christ Jesus," he knew whereof he affirmed, 
from a degree of blessed experience, and could boldly declare, 
with the holy men of old, yet in humility and fear of the Lord 
alone, " "We know that he is come, and hath given us an under- 
standing, that we know Him that is true," and "that which we 
have known and seen and handled of the good word of life, that 
declare we unto you." 

lie was of a tender spirit, and willing to cherish the good in 
all, and was many times enabled to develop the inward move- 
ments of the heart in those whom he addressed, or with whom he 
conversed in relation to their everlasting welfare. And it is 
believed that none were able to charge him with hardness of feel- 
ing towards any, or with conduct on any occasion inconsistent 



xxn PBIfAOC. 

with Christian kindness and civility. Yet in his testimony against 
the inroads of error and Bchism in the church, he was open and 
uncompromising, from d conviction of duty and of the vital nature 
of the case: and though comparatively young in years, it may be 

Baid of him, as T. Ellw 1 Baid of I leoige Pox, that " he was valiant 

for the truth, bold in asserting it, patient in Buffering for it, un- 
wearied in laboring in it, steady in his testimony to it, immovable 

B rock — zealously earnest where the honor of God, the pr 
perity of truth, and the peace of the church were concerned: fur 
indeed, the car«- of the churches of Christ was daily upon him, 

the prosperity and peace whereof he studiously sou-lit.'' And 

We may add, to the honor and praise of the great kk I AM," that 
it was all of Divine I J race — all in the ordering of the goodness and 
wisdom of God, who condescended to make the child of faith a 
partaker of heavenly gifts in Christ Jesus. 

lie was eminently acquainted with the history of our religious 
iety, and with the didactic and controversial publications of our 
early Friends ; and loved to dwell on their works of faith and 
labors of love, and constancy under suffering for the testimony of 
Jt -us. But particularly and above all other books did he value 
the Holy Scriptures j which from Ins boyhood he had diligently 
read, with his inward eye directed to Him who only hath the key 
of David, and can open and unfold their heavenly mysteries, and 
thereby " make the man of God perfect, thoroughly furnished 
unto all good works," and "wise unto salvation through faith 
which is in Christ Jesus." lie quoted lamely from them in his 
mini-try and writing, u comparing spiritual things with spiritual," 

atly to the comfort and edification of those whom he addressed, 
and whose inward ear was anointed to hear and receive the truths 

of the I rospel. 

And what if some, through party spirit and prejudice, did not 

believe and would not receive? "Shall their unbelief make the 
faith of God without effect . / " Or Bhall it weaken our confidence 

in Bis eternal truth, and ca>t down our hand- from His holy altar 1 

And what if even " twenty-and-two thousand men," who had at 
first gone forth against the Midianites, should have become 



MMBFA4 iii 

irfal and afraid," after beholding the hosts encam] insi 

them , and so "returned" Prom the warfare; shall we all fear with 

their fear and be afraid, as if there had been no u dew on the 

\nd what if, of the "ten thousand" still in the field, 

i nine thousand Beven hundred should be tumid unworthy to 
trusted for the battle, and be Bet aside, leaving a remnant, 
it were, but three hundred, to Btand openly in the conflict against 
the enemies of ferael: Bhall all this mighty defection turn the 
truth of God into a lie? Or shall it persuade us, that what we 
have heretofore seen in the Light to be the will of the Lord for 

i do, i- not to be done, beeause the multitude command it not ? 
Or shall WC forsake that ''narrow way that leadeth unto life/' to 
join a confederacy of men that turn aside, to please the world and 
the carnal mind ? Nay, verily ; but let the remnant of true-hearted 
Israelites be content to be accounted even as the three hundred 
that lapped in the army of Gideon, if haply they may be found 
worthy to suffer in defence of so good a cause; and let them 
hold on to the shield of faith which has heretofore been anointed, 
knowing that what they have been contending for, these twenty 
years and more, is no other than " the faith once delivered to the 
saints," but now despised and discarded and perverted, by some 
of the very descendants of those who suffered grievous persecu- 
tions, rather than give away, or barter away, one tittle of that 
which had been made known to them as the unchangeable truth 
of Christ 

Let us then be still livingly concerned to rally to primitive 
principles and primitive practices, remembering that Truth is 
truth, though all men may forsake it; and go on with the help of 
the Most High, as w T e may be graciously endued with a little 
renewal of strength from Him, for the accomplishment of His 
will, though to the humiliation and reduction of the creaturely 
will and wisdom into nothingness before Him. May neither the 
open assaults of the enemy, nor his secret insinuations and snares, 
weaken our constancy, or slacken a godly zeal, or efface from re- 
membrance the deliverances which have heretofore been experi- 
enced at the Lord's hand, and the blessed, and heavenly, dying 



XXIV PREFACE. 

experience of this our brother, and those of his fellow-laborera who 
with him have gone before as to the heavenly inheritance, and 
:d of their faith, even the salvation of their bouIsj 
remembering how they were sweetly supported, in their closing 
hours, by the sustaining presence of the .Most High, and how they 
were enabled to Bing of His mercies, from a Living and sensible 
feeling and foretaste of the joys in store for them. Let us bear 
in mind also, how they had aforetime walked among us, steadfast 
in the one faith j and how they endeavored to encourage and 
animate the flock, to stand firmly in the testimony which the Lord 
had given us against gains&yers, and to live over them by a godly 
life, as well as by word and pure doctrine. Thus, as each one is 
renewedly concerned to maintain individually a fervent exercise 
of mind after the one baptism, which baptizeth by the one Spirit 
into the one body, the church may be edified, and our meetings, 
large and small, may be kept more and more in the power and 
wisdom of Truth ; the Lord alone may be known to be their crown 
and diadem, the vacancies in the ranks may be filled up by living 
worshippers, and " the shout of a King" may still be heard in 
our camp. 

Philadelphia, 8d month, I860. 



LIFE AND LETTERS 



OF 



THOMAS B. GOULD 



CHATTER I. 

Thomas B. Gould was the son of Henry and Abigail 
Gould, of the city of Newport, on Rhode Island, and was 
born there on the 22d of the sixth month, 1813. 

His father, Henry Gould, who still survives him, was 
of the fourth generation in descent from the first settler 
of that name in Rhode Island, Daniel, the son of Jeremy 
and Priscilla Grovier Gould, of Great Britain, who emi- 
grated to America and settled in this colony about the 
year 1042, when about sixteen years of age. Daniel 
married Waite Coggeshall ; and, about the year 1658, 
was convinced of the principles of truth professed by 
Friends, to which he steadily adhered through the trials 
of that day of persecution in New England, lie joined 
William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson, at Salem, 
in the autumn of 1050, after they had been banished from 
Massachusetts on pain of death ; travelled with them over 
the colony for four weeks, and returned with them to 
Salem and Boston. They were all three imprisoned in 
the common jail of Boston, with several other Friends, 
who had accompanied them to that city, and were treated 



26 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1813. 

with great harshness. After the martyrdom of William 
Robinson and M. Stevenson, several of the remaining 
prii re whipped through the Btreets, Daniel Gould 

ceiving thirty lashes on bis bare back. But he continued 
faithful to his religious convictions; and, in 1671, accom- 
panied John Burnyeat on his second visit to Virginia, 
where many who bad, a few years before, been involved 
in the defection of John Terror, were favored with ability 
to retrace their steps. In the mini-try of the Gospel, he 
also travelled in various part- of New England, Staten 

[gland, Long Island. New York. New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania. &c, the Lord blessing his labors to the convinoe- 

ment of divers of those who heard him. 

He is said to have been k * a man richly furnished with 

the gifts of the Holy Spirit ; patient under exercises, 
grave in behavior, pleasant and exemplary in conversa- 
tion ; his ministry weighty and deep, tending to the con- 
solation and comfort of God's people;'' and "his under- 
standing and memory in his latter years had more than 
common brightm In his last sickness he often ex- 

pressed great resignation to the Lord's will, and endured 
much bodily suffering with exemplary patience. He greatly 
enjoyed the company of his friends, and when drawing near 
to his close, expressed his full assurance of life eternal, and 
encouraged all to walk in the unchangeable Truth to which 
he had endeavored faithfully to bear witness, with the ani- 
mating language, "Let death come when it will, my reward 
IS >ure." lie died in the year 1716, a minister about forty- 
five yea;-, and in the ninety-first year of his age. Succes- 
sive generations of the family have continued to reside at 
and near Newport to the present day. 

Thomas, the subject of the present memoir, was a child 
of remarkable promise, showing an unusual degree of clear- 
ue.-.- of mental perception, maturity of intellect and senti- 
ment, and integrity of purpose and walk, at a very early 
age. He was favored with the privilege of having ten- 
der and religiously-eoncerned parents, and was carefully 
brought up by them in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. 

In the absence of many incident- of hifl early life, his 



l^Jl.] rHOJfAG i i.D. ^7 

childhood and youth can scarcely be better portrayed than 

in - iKt'jv el* his Burviving friends in their 

memorial of him issued soon after bis decease. 

u He was naturally of a Blender constitution, and sub- 
it to frequent attacks of illnee He was i dutiful 
child, and religiously inclined from very early life, having 
d heard to Bay in maturer years, that he did nol re- 
member the time when he had no religious impressions. 
A- an evidence of the heed he early gave to the inward 
monitions of the Heavenly Teacher, the following inci- 
dent may be related. At a time when he was quite 
young, military displays were often made at some little 
distance from his father's house, and he felt a strong 
desire and curiosity to go and Bee tlicm. One day, see- 
ing a number of his playfellows going to the grounds, the 
temptation became very strong, and he followed them with- 
out the knowledge of his parents, who, he knew, would dis- 
approve of it. As he walked on. a sense of his disobedi- 
ence pressed heavily upon him ; which, as he proceeded, 
•tme more and more oppressive, until at length he 
could feel no peace but in turning back ; which he did, 
without ever again desiring to go to such places. 

" When but seven or eight years of age, his father, who 
was a miller, was in the practice of sending him about the 
town to supply his numerous customers; in which vocation 
he won the attachment and affection of the town's people 
almost without exception ; being of a kind and obliging 
disposition, scrupulously exact and honest in his dealings, 
and his conversation with them generally of a serious or 
religious cast. 

k * When about twelve years of age, he was brought so 
low by a severe attack of sickness, that his life was de- 
spaired of. After his recovery from this illness, his reli- 
gious impressions appear to have deepened, and his expe- 
rience to have ripened, in a remarkable manner for one so 
young. About this time, he commenced keeping a written 
account of his feelings and exercises, with incidents of 
visits of friends in the ministry, as well as of others ; and 
continued the practice for some years : but subsequently 
destroyed most of his productions in this line, as it would 



28 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1825. 

appear, from an humble opinion of himself; and in after 
life said, he did not think it was required of him to keep 
a journal. 

The following was written daring the Bickness above 
alluded to. 

" Oh! how Bure is the Rook of Ages ! But how unlike 

Satan, the grand adversary, who defileth everything he 
entered] into. But He who descended from heaven, not 
to destroy but to save life, influences me by His Spirit to 
love and serve Him. My desires are at times very strong 
to be enabled to distinguish between the voice of Satan 
and that of the King of Heaven ; as also, when the voice 
of the true Spirit is distinguished, that 1 may be enabled 
to be obedient thereto." 

From his early childhood, he Bought and greatly enjoyed 
the company of those who, as lie believed, were servants 
of the Most High; and from the position of his parents 
and some beloved connections at Newport, he often had 
the privilege of association with eminently gifted members 
of the Society of Friends, in their temporary BOJOUrningS 
at that central location of the Society in New England. 
lie was a great favorite, while a boy, with that valuable 
Woman and faithful minister of the Gospel, Abigail Robin- 
BOn, and spent much time with her, profiting by her in- 
structive conversation and example, and by the opportu- 
nities thus afforded, at her residence, of mingling with the 
wise and good. The impressions then received had a 
marked effect on his mind in more mature age. 

Thus, by the immediate touches of the tendering hand 
of the Shepherd of Israel, and by giving heed to the pre- 
cepts and admonitions of those who were concerned for 
his welfare, he was enamoured of the love of God, and 
brought into a degree of acquaintance with His truth, re- 
markable for One of his years. Yet he had iluctuations 
in his religious Course, the enemy assailing him powerfully, 
and at times gaining a little upon him, weakening his faith- 
fulness for a season, and giving him occasion subsequently 
to mourn over the ground he had lost, by allowing him an 
entrance with his insinuations. The following memoran- 
dums, found among other papers after his decease, ap- 
pear to allude to such seasons. 



1829. | thou \> b. aoi u>. 29 

u Another year has passed over my head, and awful to 
remember the Borrowftd neglect of Divine Goodness, nn- 

btchfnlness, and lukewarmness that have prevailed ! Oh, 
that the Lord would be pleased to spare me yet a little 
longer, that I may be more watchful, more careful to obey 
the dictates of Hia divine anointing principle within.' 1 

u I hi looking over Borne memorandums this evening made 
in the twelfth year of my age, my spirit hath been greatly 
humbled in consideration ox the tender mercy and conde- 

nsion of Aimighty Goodness, in thai he was pleased, in 
thai >n of childhood, to vouchsafe a sense, a deep and 

spiritual sense, of His purity and holiness; and also of the 
means by which purity and holiness of life and conversation 
might be attained, through which alone a conversion into a 
similitude and likeness of His own nature, might be known 
and witnessed, even in earthen vessels. But oh ! since 
then, the vessel has been broken through unbelief, and the 
precious treasure suffered to escape, by which (if retained) 
the vessel might have been preserved in innocence and 
purity. It is ft truth beyond all doubt with me, that 
nothing short of a measure and manifestation of divine 
Grace, inwardly and spiritually communicated, ever could 
have conveyed that sense of divine truth which I was 
then favored with, and such conformity to, and uniformity 
with scripture terms and doctrine. "Well, if this is the 
and that communication has been interrupted, how 
necessary that the old paths should be diligently sought ! 
"Where is the old way 2 — for truly I am in a way which 
neither myself nor my fathers in the truth heretofore 
walked in! Oh, Thou who art the healer of breaches, 
and the restorer of paths for the lame to walk in, wilt 
Thou be pleased this once more to pluck my feet out of 
the mire and the clay, and to set them upon that Rock 
against which, as an establishment thereon is known, the 
gates of hell would never be able to prevail ! Here, oh 
here, I have once been favored to behold thy face, and to 
meditate on thy law with great delight ! And should I 
again be favored to have light in my dwelling and on my 
path, then, my soul, would thou be enabled to pursue 
thy journey with alacrity; and that true advancement 



30 LIM AND LETTERS OP [1829. 



* 



would be known, which would be a Bource of comfort unto 
tlico in thiB life, and would prepare thee for celestial enjoy- 
ment when time shall be no more!" 

Submitting to these convictions, he grew in grace and 
in the saving knowledge of the Most High; and though 
still a y<»uth, his mind was endued with a clear apprecia- 
tion of the pure doctrines of Christianity, and a qualifica- 
tion was given to discern truth from error, either in prin- 
ciple or practice. He was favored with ability to wait on 
the Lord in the Bilence of all flesh, and to know the henefit 
thereof, above all merely outward performances, in the 
renewing of his strength, and the reception of a capacity 
to know and do the will of the Almighty. He alludes to 
this exercise in the following beautiful though brief memo- 
randum. 

"Divine worship, I believe, implies a patient waiting to 
know, and a faithful and scrupulous engagement to do the 
will of our Heavenly Father. But how hard have I often 
found it. to be so divested of active self, as to get into 
that true silence, humility, and lowliness of mind, where 
we can stand perfectly still, separated from any depen- 
dence on, or attention to any other than the great object 
of our adoration and praise! Nevertheless, I have at 
times been made sensible, to my humbling admiration, of 
the glory of the Lord descending and filling the outward 
temple, BO that there was no place for, nor any disposition 
to engage in any official duties, but only to stand quite 
still, and behold the great glory and magnificence of the 
Shepherd of Israel/' 

His mind was often brought into serious concern for 
the religious welfare of his friends, and especially for 
those, like himself, in the early walks of life; and giving 
up in obedience to what he believed was of divine requir- 
ing, he was made willing to visit such at times, both in 
his native city and in places more or less remote, and in 
humility and love to deliver to them the burden which rested 
upon him on their account. His labors were often owned 
by the Witness for truth in the hearts of those visited, to 
the tendering of their spirits, and he was favored to return 
home in peace. At other times his concern for his bre- 



1829.] rnoMAB b. oould. 81 

thren was manifested by epistolary communication, ad- 
din affectionate and earnest expostulation, encour- 
ment, or admonition. The following is a portion of 
of these epistles, showing the earnestness of his desire 
to be found faithful to his feelings of duty in this respect. 

My DBAB FRIBHD : 

Having hern at times (as I believe thou art Bensible) 
baptised into sympathy and fellow-feeling with thee in thy 
many trials and besetments, as well as into exercise on 

thy account, and renewedly and feelingly so at this time, 
I thought I could not easily get from under the burden, 
without spreading the concern which I have felt, a little 
before thee, as I may be enabled, and in this epistolary 

way, notwithstanding 1 have the favor and privilege of 

thy company at tinier 

I have observed with humbling admiration the bountiful 
goodness and preserving power of an All-wise Providence, 
not only in thy preservation from evil communications in 
1 measure, but from evil habits also, in thy temporal 
and relative accommodations and blessings, but above all 
other considerations, in bringing thee to a knowledge of 
the ever-blessed truth in some good degree; and while I 
am writing, my soul bows in thankful acknowledgment 
on thy behalf, and can adopt the language, " This is the 
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in mine eyes." And 
the fervent breathing of my spirit is, that neither one 
thing nor yet another may cause the work to be marred 
upon the wheel, but that thy hands, which are often ready 
to hang down, may be mercifully strengthened, and thy 
feeble knees confirmed ; for I believe thou art often ex- 
ceedingly stripped, and that thou feelest exceedingly the 
want of the sensible influence and perceptible guidance of 
Divine Good. But be entreated, in these seasons of deep 
proving, to hold fast the profession of thy faith without 
Avavering, nothing doubting but that He that hath been 
with thee in six troubles will be with thee in the seventh. 

The point, however, to which my mind has been the 
most forcibly turned in relation to thee, is, that thou mayst 
be increasingly gathered into the patient waiting for Christ 



32 Uli; AM) LETTERS OF [1829, 

in the way of His coming, and increasingly guarded with 
respect to those things which are Likely to obstruct His 
appearance, or becloud thy vision. Oh, bear with me, my 

dear friend. a> with one who would gladly have been ex- 
cused, if relief might have been obtained in any other way 
than in the way of duty, while I entreat thee to shun all 
those things. I believe that the adversary of our happi- 
ness always enters at the weakest side, and that, well 
knowing in what things he would seek in vain to betray 
thee, he is making use of his pernicious influence to weaken 
thy hands, by easting temptations before thee adapted to 
thy situation and circumstances. 

I find, if I obtain relief, as Thomas Shillitoe says, "the 
whole counsel committed unto me must be communicated ;" 
that I must come right to the point; that I must entreat 
thee to resist bravely all solicitations to attend the meet- 
ings of other religious societies. I am sensible that here 
the cross may possibly be exceedingly heavy for thee to 
take up and to bear : but, my dear friend, I have seen with 
the eye of faith what the result would be, if this testimony 
should not be faithfully supported, in connection with 
some others which thou art, I believe, acceptably engaged 
in the support of. And I also feel a concern affection- 
ately to recommend thee to take into thy serious conside- 
ration the subject of the common use of heathenish names 
for the days of the week, and months, as well as all com- 
plimentary titles and distinctions, and in connection with 
the use of the plain Scripture language, endeavor to bring 
them to the Light which will make all things manifest; 
and I do verily believe that thou wilt be favored to see, 
clearly to Bee, that the same precious principle which has 
Led thee into one, will lead thee into the other. Nothing 
can be farther from my best feelings than in thus address- 
ing thee, either to draw thee outward in thy views, or to- 
wards me as an instrument. My object is no other than 
that of all rightly administered instrumental labor, even 
to bring home to the true Teacher; and as thou art con- 
cerned to wait day by day to feel its quickening power, 
thou shall be enabled to go on in that power, conquering 
and to conquer, even until judgment shall be sent forth 
unto victorv 



1829.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 

During much of bis youth, Thomas was liable to fre- 
quent an: f bodily indisposition, and at tim< 
brought very low by sickness, and thereby his schooling 
was considerably interfered with ; but possessing an active 
mind, acute perceptions, and an uncommonly clear and 

retentive memory, his subsequent application and indus- 
try enabled him amply to compensate, in useful acquire- 
ments, for the time apparently lost to literary pursuits. 

His mind being thus stored beyond many of his years, and 
his conversational powers, naturally good, being improved 
by constant and familiar association with enlightened men 

and women greatly his superiors in aire and attainments, 
his company and conversation, as he advanced in life, be- 
came attractive and instructive to his acquaintances of all 
», and especially to those whose faces were in reality set 
Xionwards. These could feel the true life in him answer- 
ing to the witness in their own hearts, and were attracted 
towards him by ties stronger than those of natural brother- 
hood, because pertaining to the heavenly relationship. 

His letters to his friends were many times fraught with 
deep instruction, and often contained yery graphic de- 
scriptions of incidents or conversations in which he had 
been en craved, and in which he knew that his friends felt 
a lively interest. A portion of such descriptive epistles, 
(written in more mature life) selected for their value in 
developing the events of his own day, the sad departure of 
multitudes from the ancient landmarks of the Society, and 
his own efforts to warn his friends of the unsound doctrines 
insidiously introduced, and the mischievous devices of those 
engaged in promoting them, will furnish the reader of the 
following pages with something approaching to a narrative 
of the most remarkable events of his life, in the absence 
of any regular journal or autobiography. Being brought 
up by his father to the milling business, many of the most 
valuable and weighty of his epistles were written in his 
windmill, during the hours usually devoted to sleep, some 
of them being finished long after midnight or towards 
dawn of day. The following letter written to a relation, 
when about sixteen years of age, delineates familiarly 
some interesting particulars of a visit of George and Ann 
Jones to the Island of Canonicut. 



M LOT AND LETTBRS OF [1829. 



From Thomas V>. Gould to 



\i . 21st of Ctli mo. (1st day), 18! 

it.i:m!d Cousin: 1 may inform that on the 20th 
I i. and A. Jones appointed a meeting on Canonicut, at the 
eleventh hoar. Aunt Mary, Lydia Ann, and myself hav- 
ing an inclination to attend, went over in the horse-boat, 
with <■. and A. Jones, and E. Pitfield. The wind being 
against us made hard work for the horses, and it was 
nearly eleven when we arrived on shore. A very solid 
company was convened, and I reorge was engaged to minis* 
ter; beginning.: "To be carnally-minded is death, but 
to be spiritually-minded is life and peace;" and went on 
to show that the carnal mind was indeed at k * enmity with 
Grod." Ann followed him : " It is not in man that walk- 
eth to direct his steps;" showing our utter inability, as 
men and creatures, to do anything to the glory and honor 
of His glorious, holy name, unassisted by that divine 
principle, "a measure and manifestation" whereof has 
been given unto us "to profit withal;" that as we are 
engaged to know a co-working with that precious principle, 
it would work out for us a "far more exceeding and eter- 
nal weight of glory," even an entrance into that glorious, 
holy city, whose " walls are salvation and whose gates are 
praise;" that a mere historical faith in Christ's sufferings, 
death, resurrection, mediation, and intercession, would do 
nothing for us: that we must indeed witness the powerful 
operations of the Holy Ghost and fire, this being the only 
effectual, saving baptism; and be enabled to say, " It is 
not by any mighty works which we have done, but by the 
washing of regeneration ami the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost." Deal* Elizabeth Pitfield followed her, and sweetly 
encouraged those that were ready to say, kk Can it be, that 
Christ died for so vile a worm as 1 am? Can it be, that 
I am an object of divine regard?" A precious meeting 
it was. Oh, that it may be t<> me like bread cast on the 
water, which returned after many days. This gave us a 
valuable Opportunity of being in the company of tip 

faithful advocates of the cause of truth and righteeusw 

in the earth 



10. ) tik»m Lfi ft. GKH LI>. 

The wind Mew bo heavy, it was thought improbable the 
horse-boat would come over, and Ann Jones no! being 
well, Bhe thought most proper to leave at four o'clock, 
and the wind continuing to blow very heavy, the spraj 
broke over into the boat to such a degree that it wet our 
friends very much, although they had umbrellas and cloak-. 

rawled under the cuddy, where I should have been dry, 
it' the water had not dripped through the planks. How- 

r, I esteem it another merciful favor that Ave were pre- 
served from any other damage than wetting our clothes. 
Elizabeth thought it might be a specimen of crossing the 
Atlantic, but Ann told her it was not a comparison to it. 
Ann remarked, while on board the liorse-l.oat. that it 
reminded her of a saying in her country, of putting to 
in a post-chaise. - 

The following memorandum is dated in 1830, when 
Thomas B. Gould was about seventeen years of age. 

" It has been clearly manifested to me, that conscience 
is not the proper rule and guide which the Almighty, in 
His infinite wisdom and goodness, has provided for the 
regulation of the actions of His creature, man ; because 
conscience, like reason, being a natural gift, may, when 
unenlightened, become depraved and identified with, or 
rather adulterated by, our evil propensities. But that 
the Holy Spirit of Christ, which He promised He would 
send in His name (which is often put for His power), is 
the guide and rule by which our conduct is to be regu- 
lated ; for though in us, it is not of us, but is a most pre- 
cious gift, being the same Rock that followed Israel, and 
that Kock was Christ. This never can be depraved, but, 
as minded and submitted to in its gentle movings and 
leadings, would subdue and overcome all that the Lord's 
holy controversy is against, and w r ould gain for us an ad- 
mittance into that city, the Avails whereof are salvation, 
and whose gates are praise ; it being the purchase of that 
most satisfactory sacrifice on Calvary's Mount, whereby 
He hath forever perfected them that are sanctified, and 



3G LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1830. 

cast up a way for the ransomed and redeemed of our God 
to walk in ; which, although an exalted situation, and one 
that of ourselves we arc wholly incapable of attaining unto, 
yet it is so plain and so simple, that the wayfaring man, 
though a fool as to the things of this world, may not err 
therein. Well may we exclaim, k Great is the mystery of 
godliness !' " 

From Thomas B. Gould to . 



Dear WILLIAM, — for so I believe I may address thee, 
having, from a feeling of pure love, been induced to make 
this exposure of myself, entirely independent of any out- 
ward information whatever. 

I may remark that when thou wast here, a few weeks 
since, I felt such a nearness of sympathy and brotherly 
love for thee, as is entirely out of my capacity to convey ; 
but intended, however, to have manifested it by more 
attention and being a little more in thy company, which 
was pleasant. But circumstances out of my control pre- 
vented the accomplishment of my intentions. There 
would not, probably, have been any other effect from 
these feelings, but the other day, as I sat in meeting, en- 
gaged in a train of thought which would not come under 
the term worship, but which I think was not altogether 
unprofitable, thou wast very unexpectedly and feelingly 
brought to my remembrance, accompanied with a belief 
that it would be best for me to write to thee; and although 
I had some openings, yet the end and design of the con- 
cern was not made known. The subject passed off; 
but soon after, something transpired, which tended to 
strengthen the feelings. I was sincerely desirous to do 
the thing that was right, and like Mary formerly, "kept 
all these things and pondered them in my heart : M and 
now having given the subject due deliberation, and en- 
deavored to feel after the mind of truth, I am persuaded 
that i shall not be quite clear without submitting a few 
simple remarks for thy consideration. 

Thou hast, I believe, been mercifully preserved from 
many of the evils and dangers incident to youth (of which 



1880. | TIIo.mas B. GOULD. 87 

I have do doubt thou art sensible), but still thy path, as 
well as my own, is thickly Btrewed with Satan's baits, 

pared by his subtle hand, in a way and manner in 
which thou art least likely to discover them, in order to 
detecl and resist them. Thou must be brought into a 
feeling of thy own onworthiness and inability to do any 

d thing, before thou wilt be in a suitable state rightly 
to apply for assistance where alone it can be found. By 
attending simply to this, to u the Grace of God, which 
brings salvation, and hath appeared unto all men," thou 
wilt be enabled to discover clearly the way in which thou 
must go, wilt he made Bensible of the exceeding corrup- 
tion and depravity of the human heart, of the necessity 
there is for watchfulness ; and as thou keepest thine eye 
Bingle, wilt in due time experience deliverance from the 
house of bondage, which is sin, or the nature of the first 
Adam, from spiritual Egypt, where is darkness, but into 
which darkness the light of the Lord hath shined, as it is 
written : " They which sat in darkness saw a great light, 
and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death 
light is sprung up." And the evident design of the aris- 
ing of this light, is to bring thee forth out of Egypt, from 
under the dominion of sin ; and, if I am not mistaken in 
my feelings, it hath required thee to go as it were three 
days' journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the 
Lord thy God ; being made sensible, as the children of 
Israel formerly were, that it will be inconsistent with His 
will and pleasure to offer sacrifice unto Him, before thou 
hast witnessed and know T n a departure out of Egypt. 
And this passover thou must be willing to eat in the way 
and manner that Divine Goodness has been pleased to 
direct, although it may be with bitter herbs, with the 
loins of thy mind girded, shoes upon thy feet, and a staff 
in thy hand, a full resolution and willingness being wrought 
to forsake the pleasures of Egypt, in order to journey 
forward and to possess the land of promise : and tliou 
mayest remember that it is the willing and obedient that 
He will give to eat of the good fruit of that land. And 
thus, with a high hand and with an outstretched arm, 
thou wilt be enabled to go forth, by His assistance, not of 

4 



88 LITE AND LETTERS OF [1830. 

thyself or thy own power ; and when the sea is divided, 
and thou art made sensible of the wonderful power of the 

Lord, the horse and his ridci- being drowned in the midst 
of it, while to thee it is a wall on either side, the pillar of 
cloud going before thee by day, and the pillar of lire by 
night, — after thou hast known this, thou mayst believe 
thyself to he on the hanks of* deliveranee. 

Here thou wilt probably sing His praise, and mayest 

be ready to eonelude that the warfare is accomplished, 
and that thou hast already arrived almost beyond the 
reach of trouble and danger. But I entreat thee to re- 
member that thou art but just brought out and allured 
into the wilderness, and on the very outset and beginning 
of thy journey towards the heavenly Canaan ; that here 
thou art to receive the dispensation of the law, and to be 
instructed in it, to be made acquainted with divers wash- 
ings and cleansings, trying, perhaps, in their nature and 
administration ; but be assured they are necessary in 
order to do away all Egypt's nature ; for thou canst no 
more be fit to enter into that " good land," before this 
work is accomplished, than thou wast to offer sacrifice, 
before thou hadst taken some steps in thy journey thither. 
And be not anxious that this wilderness state maybe sud- 
denly gone through with, but rather be attentive to the 
hand of the Lord which may be observed herein. Remem- 
ber that He fed His people formerly with bread from heaven 
and flesh to the full, that He clave the rocks for them, and 
encamped round about them, that the cloud rested upon 
the door of the tabernacle, and they journeyed not until 
it was lifted up. (He that readeth, let him understand.) 
For M when the cloud was taken up from over the taber- 
nacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their 
journeys ; but if the cloud were not taken up, then they 
journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the 
cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and 
lire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of 
Israel, throughout all their journeys." Exodus 40 : 86, 

87, 88. 

Thus, my dear friend, be encouraged to keep thine eye 
singly upon Him who leadeth out His own sheep, oalleth 






1830.] TIMMAS B. GOULD. 89 

them by name, and goeth before them: bo thou will be 

•n making any idol, and worshipping it. whil 
in His infinite wisdom, Be is pleased to withhold Hiipself 

From thee in order to prove thee and deepen thy love for 
Him. And thy journey in this wilderness \\\\\ be short- 
d; thou wilt be favored to overcome all opposition; 
and although Balak may see thee approaching, be afraid, 
and call Balaam to curse thee, yet it will be turned into 
blessing altogether; and in the Lord's due and appointed 
time, when all that sinneth and lusteth after Egypt shall 
fall in the desert, thou wilt be enabled to pass over Jor- 
dan, and to bring up from the very bottom thereof stones 
of living memorial, showing where thou hast been dwelling, 
even under the preparing, fashioning hand of the Lord. 
On the other hand, if thou art disobedient, and hearkenest 
to the voice of the evil one, who will endeavor to retard 
thy progress by suggestions like those whereby he dis- 
couraged Israel, through the instrumentality of the evil 
spies (who being sent over to view the land, plainly dis- 
covered it to flow with milk and honcv, were favored to 
taste of the fruit thereof and to bring back some with 
them to the camp, saying, this is the fruit of it, neverthe- 
less discouraged them by saying " that the cities are walled 
and very great, and there are Anakims in the land, in 
comparison with whom we are like grasshoppers)," — listen 
not to the adversary, lest, after thou hast been raised up 
to view it, thou receive the intelligence, " Thou shalt not 
go over thither." But oh, that the spirit, the holy reso- 
lution which was in Caleb, may be in thee, who stilled the 
people by saying, " Let us go up at once and possess it, 
for we are well able to overcome it." Remember, the 
strength of the people who dwell there is departed from 
them, and that " there is none like unto the God of Jeshu- 
run, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help and in His 
excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, 
and underneath are the everlasting arms." As thy depen- 
dence is here, all these Canaanites will be driven out : for 
the command is, utterly to destroy them and drive them 
out ; and unless this is accomplished, they will be a con- 
tinual vexation and cause of stumbling. 



40 LOT AND LETTERS OF [1830. 

This Lb my fervent desire and prayer for thee, as well 
myself; and although it may Beem strange to thee that 

I thus write, and in such a metaphorical manner, yet my 
excuse is the same as Balaam's was, "Whatsoever is put 
into my mouth, that I must Bpeak, less or more;" my 
desire also has been like his, "Let me die the death of the 
righteous, and let my last end be like his." 

The spring having (dosed, I must end as I began, that 
is, with reference to the pointings of truth, having no 
knowledge, when I put pen to paper, as to the matter or 

manner of my writing. I may however request that if 
thou receivest this and feelest freedom, thou would just 
give me Mime hints respecting thy apprehensions, espe- 
cially if there is anything in it thou dost not clearly under- 
stand. I conclude, 

Thy tenderly affectionate friend and well-wisher, 

Thomas B. Gould. 

From Thomas B. Gould to . 



My dear Friend : 

Notwithstanding I was strengthened to communicate a 
few words expressive of my belief of the divine nature of 
the visitation with which thou hast been visited (though 
very mueli in the cross), yet I felt afterwards so comfort* 
ably quiet, that I took it as a precious and abundant 
reward for this attention to what I have long believed to 
be incumbent on me. But the interruptions to which thou 

knowesJ 1 have been so much subjected, and which were 

repeated this evening, prevented me from fully relieving 

my mind: and the concern remaining weightily upon me, 
I have believed it to be right for me, in order to unburden 

my mind, and to discharge my duty towards thee, to sub- 
mit a few simple remarks in writing, for thy considera- 
te n. 

Thou wilt find it recorded in the Scriptures of truth, 
thai "in the beginning God created the heavens and the 
earth." I have no doubt thou wilt readily acknowledge 
to the truth of this declaration : and in acknowledging to 
this, thou wilt admit the subsequent account, given by the 



1880. | THOMAfl B, 90ULD, 1 1 

inspired penman, of the six days 1 work, and also the dn ine 

authority of the Holy Scriptu: \nd thou wilt find 

that, after the whole creation was finished, and the fowls 
the air, the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the field 
had been made, the Lord said, M Le1 us make man in our 
image, after our likeness :' that the Lord looked upon 
all that He had made, and "behold, it was very good;' 1 
that "in the image of God created he him, male and 
female created he them." Here thou will observe thai 
he was created in the image and after the likeness of God; 
and as it is reasonably understood that a likeness, in the 
common sense of the term, bears some considerable resem- 
blance to the original, so we may conclude that he par- 
took largely of the divine nature, and was good. u And 
the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and 

there He placed the man whom he had formed." lie was 
placed in a state of happiness and enjoyment in the favor 
of his Almighty Creator, haying full liberty and permis- 
sion to eat of the fruit of every tree of the garden but of 
the tree of knowledge of good and evil; and upon this the 
Almighty was pleased to lay his prohibitory command, 
and to pronounce a curse upon him in case of disobedience : 
" In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." 
And so long as the obedience of our first parents kept pace 
with their knowledge, they continued to relish and enjoy 
this union and communion with their Almighty Creator; 
bat when, through the subtlety of the serpent, they had been 
prevailed upon to transgress the divine command, then 
they were made sensible of it ; and when they heard the 
voice of the Lord walking in the garden, in the cool of 
the day, a time favorable to reflection, they hid themselves, 
knowing that they had sinned. But the Lord Was pleased 
to call them, in a manner similar, I believe, to that in 
which thou hast been called when running contrary to the 
divine will inwardly revealed, " Adam ! Adam ! where 
art thou?" And his answer was, " I heard thy voice, and 
I hid myself, because I was naked/' " Who told thee that 
thou wast naked? hast thou eaten of the fruit of the tree 
which I commanded thee not to eat?'' His answer was. 

"The woman which thou hast given me gave me of the 

4* 



42 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18! 

Fruit, and I did cat : M and when the woman was questioned, 
she answered, " The serpent beguiled me, and 1 did i 

Thus, my dear friend, I want thee to observe the excus< - 
that were made, and compare them with the lines of thy 
own experience. Examine thy own heart ; let the examina- 
tion be impartial : and see bow the thing will preponder- 
ate ; see if it will not bear some comparison to this evasion, 

which was made by our primitive ancestors in a ease ex- 
actly parallel. Remember also the judgment that was 
pronounced upon them. This judgment and the promise 

that was then made, are of the highest importance unto 

us, even in this glorious Gospel day in which we live, and 
to which it referred. It is fraught with dee]) instruction 

to the minds of those who rightly apply unto the Lord for 
help and instruction. To such as these our adorable King 
is pleased to open the Scriptures of truth by His eternal 

Spirit, and to seal on their minds those deep and impor- 
tant truths contained in them. And to this I would earn- 
estly call thy attention; to an attentive perusal of the 

Scriptures, with the eye of thy mind fixed upon Him who 
alone can open the seals, and with thy spiritual ear open 
and attentive to that Spirit which can alone convey that 
BOul-sustaining intelligence and encouragement, which will 
nourish it up unto eternal life. 

But to return to the judgment that was pronounced upon 
the serpent, upon whom 1 think it was first passed : U I 

will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between 

thy seed and her seed ; it shall hruise thy head, and thou 

shalt bruise his heel. Cursed art thou above all cattle : 

upon thy belly Bhalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all 

the days of thy life.*' And unto Adam He said, k * Cursed 

is the ground for thy sake : in sorrow shalt thou eat of it 

all the days of thy life J thorns also and thistles shall it 
bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the 
field. M Here thou wilt perceive a great change to have 

taken place in the condition of our first parents, so lately 
enjoying sweet union with their Maker, and now being 
driven forth to till the ground from whence they were 

taken, and to cat the "herb of the field." And lest he 
should put forth his hand and partake of the tree of life. 



ISoO. ] TJkOM \> B. GOULD. 48 

and live forever, there were placed at " the east of the 
garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword, which 
turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of lif 
This is a subject that baa often engaged my serious atten- 
tion, it remaining to be a sealed truth, that no man can 
attain unto the tree of life, but by passing under this 
flaming, two-edged sword; and this view of the Bubjecl 
coincides with the testimony of the Apostle Paul, who de- 
scribed tin 4 sword of the Spirit, as being a quick discerner 
of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and that it divided 
between BOul and spirit, joints and marrow-. By this thou 
wilt discover thai we arc prone by nature to act contrary 
to this Spirit of Grace, and to do despite unto it, in that 
all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, in 
that we have all partaken of the sad effects of this fall of 
our first parents from that state of happiness and good- 
ness in which they were created; as it is written, after 
Adam was driven out of Paradise, that he " begat a son 
in his own image, and after his own likeness." 

And this corrupt nature of the natural man must be 
done away, this image and likeness of the first Adam ; 
and there is no way by which it can be accomplished, but 
through the glorious way of escape promised by Infinite 
Goodness, almost as soon as His divine command had 
been transgressed, viz. : " I will put enmity between thee 
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it 
shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." 
Now, thou mayst remark, that the head is a vital part of 
the body, and when the head is wounded we are justly 
said to be wounded all over; and this is agreeable with 
the testimony of the apostle: u For this purpose was the 
Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works 
of the devil;" and with this the testimony of the holy 
patriarchs, prophets, and apostles agrees. Moreover, the 
promise of this seed of the woman was renewed to Abram ; 
and in token of his favor and acceptance with the Almighty, 
and also of the change of heart and disposition that had 
taken place, his name was changed to Abraham, and the 
promise was renewed: "In thee and in thy seed -ball all 
the families of the earth be blessed." It was renewed to 



44 LIFE AM) LETTERS OP [18-j^. 

Esaac, and to Jacob, whose name was also changed to 
Israel, because he wrestled and obtained the blessing, Bay- 
ing, % * 1 will not let thee go except thou bless me." The 
Lord Almighty was pleased, however, before He intro- 
duced the glorious dispensation of the Gospel of our Lord 
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to bring in, between the fall 
and the way of escape from the fall, another dispensation, 
consisting of divers washings and cleansings, which never 
"made the comer thereunto perfect,' 1 hut pointed to that 
which did. It pointed to the last and lasting dispen- 
sation, by which wo hit enabled emphatically to draw 
nigh unto God ; by which, and by which alone, we can 
possibly he placed in a capacity to rise above the first 
nature ; which is fallen, degenerate, and dead, but through 
this propitiatory sacrifice, which in due time was offered up 
for our sins, there has been a gift of God purchased, a little 
divine seed and agency placed in the corrupt heart of man 
in the fall, which counteracts and opposeth the evil seed 
and tin 4 first nature ; and as it is attended to in its appear- 
ances, however Bmall they may be, it would overcome, it 
would subdue all of a contrary nature, and finally would 
effect a change of disposition and a change of heart; all 
(►Id things would be done away, all things would become 
new, and all things of God. Here thou wouldst be raised 
out of the fall and the effects of it, and having in this 
passed under the flaming sword, or in other words, 
known Him whose right hand is to rule and to reign, to 
come into thy heart, and to sit there as a refiner with his 
lire and as a fuller with his soap, to purge away the dro 
and the tin, and the reprobate silver, thou wouldst be 
favored to partake of the tree of life; and if thou con- 
tinued faithful unto death, a crown of life would bo given 
thee, eternal in the heavens, which fadeth not away 

[written in Tin: tear is°>2.] 

" I have of late made so little progress, and in my heart 
was bo far gone back into Egypt, that 1 have been ready 

!•> wish that I nevei- had been favored in the way that I 
am, rather than those tilings that are so very near and 



1S:V2.] THOMAS B, GOULD, 45 

dear to pae should be called for. ( >, Lord, be thou pleased 
rive the thought of my oorrupl heart ; seeing Thou 
hast been tempted in all points like as \ v <- are, Bin only 
excepted: and oh! enable me to return thanks unto thee, 
that thou hast, in unbounded mercy, been pleased to 
lengthen the thread of my natural and spiritual life, and 
that thou didst not out me off altogether 1 And enable 
thou me, it' it be consistent with thy holy will, to walk 
more humbly and consistently before thee; that so I may 
not dishonor thy holy cause in the earth!" 



MEMORANDUM, FOUND AMOX<; ins PAPERS, DATED 
SEVENTH MONTH, 1832. 

"Strong desires aiv at times raised in my heart, that 
the good work that 1 humbly hope lias been begun, may 

be in mercy carried forward, that 1 may know a progres- 
sion from this state of childhood to that of a young man, 

and to a Btrong man in Christ Jesns ; lie being the Author 
of every good work ; and if the state alluded to is ever 

attained, it must he only by Ilim. And I thought I might 
adopt the language, in allusion to the small progress that 
has been made hitherto: 'By Thee I have run through a 
troop, and by my God I have leaped over a wall ;' not- 
withstanding I have yet much to pass through, and am 
daily passing under the just judgments of an offended God, 
in one way or other. Yet being sensible that I have a 
baptism to be baptized with, I am at times exceedingly 
straitened that it may be accomplished; and at this time 
I am encouraged to believe, that as I sincerely endeavor 
to keep near the unfailing Helper of His people, although 
His waves and His billows may pass over my head (which 
1 sincerely hope may be the case, that the old and corrupt 
nature may be washed away), I shall be preserved from 
sinking. For I am firm in the belief, that by no Other 
means than by baptism can any man become a member of 
the Church of Christ; and I also believe that out of that 
Church there is no salvation." ["If I wash thee not, 
thou hast no part with me." John 13 : 8.] 



M LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1834. 

From T. B. GL to Geobgb F. Read, 

Newf( I of lOtib month, 1834. 

My dkab Friend : 

J have taken up my pen this afternoon to answer thy 
acceptable letter of last sixth month; and although I have 
deferred it bo long, I can assure thee that I cannot charge 
myself with either negligence or forgetfulness, but in truth 
I can inform thee 1 have not since that time been in a 
situation to communicate anything which would have been 
worth thy perusal. 1 have been an inhabitant of a dry 
and barren land, in which there lias been neither dew, nor 
rain, nor held of offering : and as it has, for a long time, 
been a settled principle with me, not to open my inward 
exercises and trials to any, without feeling that liberty in 
the truth to do it which alone could make such a disclosure 
safe, I have forborne to burden thee with complaints, 
choosing rather, as I might be favored, to abide in my 
tent, and endeavor to search for the cause of this great 
desertion and leanness ; for even Jerusalem was to be 
searched with lighted candles. Oh! my dear friend, the 
preciousne88, as well as the importance, of having the 
candle lighted and on the candlestick! If it is on the 
candlestick and not lighted, it is worse than useless, be- 
cause profession without possession is hypocrisy; and if it 
has, through adorable Mercy and condescending Goodness, 
been lighted, and remains under the bushel, it must un- 
avoidably go out again, for it cannot burn in unsuitable 
and unprofitable confinement. The declaration of our 
blessed Lord still continues to hold good: "Ye have not 
chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that 
ye should go, and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit 
should remain." And again: " Ye are the salt of the 
earth, and the light of the world: and a city that is set 
on a hill cannot be hid." Now those that ha\ e been called 
and chosen by Him, and through and by His holy help, 
enabled not only to labor but to bring forth fruit, tie 
certainly • ison and give light unto others: but when 

they cease to Bea80n and give light unto others, then the 
salt has lost its savor ; it is thenceforth good for nothing. 



1884.] THOMAS i l.l>. IT 

and is cast out and trodden under fool of men; and the 

light which shone through them being obscured, finally 
will be put out : for ire read thai the candle of the wicked 
shall be put out. Bui as our hope of preservation is in 
the unfolding of thai Light which makes manifest, and as 
a measure and manifestation of this Light has been given 
unto every man to profit withal, so L believe it doc- be- 
come our weak and childlike state to abide in our tenl 
with the little we may he intrusted with, until that Light 
niovoth and goeth before. Then we may safely follow, 
uise that same direction which it takes will he the path 
for us to walk in. 1 have often instructively remembered 

the account we have of the dealings of the Lord with the 
children of Israel, in bringing them forth out of the land 
of Egypt, through the Red Sea and the wilderness, in 
general ; and in particular, the manner in which they 
journeyed. It is declared that a pillar of a cloud rested 
the tabernacle by day, and a pillar of fire by night, in 
the sight of all the house of Israel, and throughout all 
their journeys ; and that they journeyed not until the 
cloud was lifted up. Well, as surely as the cloud rested 
on the outward tabernacle visibly, so surely does it rest 
on our tabernacles spiritually, yet sensibly ; and I believe, 
the more closely we are engaged to watch its movements, 
when it goes before and leads the way for us, or to abide 
in our tents when it remains stationary, the more profitably 
we shall get along for ourselves, and for those among 
whom Ave may be walking ; for the tabernacle of God, 
agreeably to the testimony of the Apostle John, remains 
to be with men ; and he says that God Himself shall be 
with them, and wipe away all tears from their eyes, and 
be their God. And this was written when the temple of 
the tabernacle of witness in heaven was opened. Doubt- 
less it is in them only, who, by an attention to the mani- 
festation of His Spirit, are engaged to prepare His way 
in the wilderness, and to make His paths straight, that 
the precious promise above alluded to will be realized. If, 
as a general thing, those wdio are thus under exercise, 
should unadvisedly open their state to such as are not 
qualified to understand the same, and of consequence not 



48 LIFB AND LETTERS OF [1^4. 

Bkilful to make such an application as the case require 
they would lay themselves liable to serious injury, it was 
a cause of complaint against Borne formerly, that they had 
healed the wound of the Lord's people Blightly; and 
against others, that they had been daubing with untem- 
pered mortar. Now I believe that if we rightly seek that 
wisdom that is profitable to direct, we shall be preserved 
from opening our condition to such as these; and on the 
other hand, those that dwell near the Spring of Divine 
Life in themselves, feeling a sympathy for and a fellowship 
with US in that life, without any outward information what- 
ever, arc often enabled to speak a word in season to them 
that are weary, and according to the apostolic description, 
the Becrets of hearts are made manifest ; for prophecy 
(which is a speaking to edification and comfort) came not 
in old time by the will of man, but holy men of old spake 
as they wore moved by the Holy Ghost. 

These openings and advices, coming from a pure and 
unerring spring, must be abundantly more safe and useful 
than those which originate merely in the unauthorized and 
unassisted invention of the human mind. 

Thus, my dear friend, I have simply made these remarks 
a- they have renewedly and feelingly opened to the view 
of my mind; though I have long been confirmed in the 
belief of their truth, and I also believe, as I am more and 
more concerned to be thus governed, that I shall be fa- 
vored to stand in my lot at the end of my days. But 
weakness and infirmity of flesh and spirit arc so much 
mine, that except in some brighter and more favored mo- 
menta discouragement prevails in a great degree. That 
1 may have the sympathy of thy spirit, and that thou 
mavst favor me with a line, I most sincerely ask, not wait- 
ing or deferring it because of my long silence: for the 
reasons for my not writing, above given, are true and 
honest reason-. 

I am often sensible of deep exercise and concern on ac- 
count of our religious society, in general and more particu- 
larly, so that I l'eel like a cask which wants vent} but no 
way often opens by which 1 can find relief. 1 go about 
under the weight of the exercise, wearing sackcloth as the 



1 58 1. | THOMAS B, GOULD, 19 

king of [srac] did, in the time of the famine in Samaria, 
inwardly upon his flesh, when the city was besieged until 
an ass's head was sold for five pieces of Bilver. I knon 
not but in \ case may be like thai of the lord on whose 
hand the king leaned; who, when the prophet prophesied 
of better things, said, " [f the Lord should make windows 
in heaven, might these things be; n [might such a thing 
] and indeed the denunciation pronounced against him, 
"Thou shalt Bee it with thine eyes, but Bhalt not eat 
thereof," seems sometimes to apply, for I am as it were 
in the Bight of food, but am not permitted to eat thereof. 
But I have been comforted in the remembrance of the four 
leprous men who sat at the gate of the city. Thou mayst 
remember, they said one to another: "Why sit we here 
until we die? If we enter into the city, the famine is in 
the city, and we shall die there, and if we sit still here 
we shall die also. Now let us fall into the camp of the 
Assyrians ; if they Bave us alive, Ave shall live, and if they 
kill us, we shall but die." But when they came, they 
found no man there, but horses tied and asses tied ; for the 
Lord had caused them to hear the sound of chariots and 
horsemen, and they said, " The king of Israel hath hired the 
kings of Egypt and the kings of the hills against us ;" so 
they fled and left the camp as it was. Just so the leprous 
men found it : and they went into one tent and ate and 
drank, then into another ; but presently they were awak- 
ened to a sense of the importance of their standing. 
" What are we doing?'' was the query which arose in their 
minds, no doubt under the influence of the same Divine 
Light of which I have been speaking : " This is a day of 
good tidings, and we hold our peace ; if we stay here until 
the morning light, some mischief will befall us : now there- 
fore come, that we may go and tell the king's household." 
If I ever should be sent with a message to the king's house- 
hold, or be permitted to carry good tidings there, it may 
afford some relief; but at present it seems as if the lan- 
guage was binding: " To thy tent, oh Israel!" And 
indeed this is a place of safety and comfort when it is our 
proper place, and if we have not, by our own rebellion, 



50 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1835. 

unfitted ourselves for running with a message in the way 

of the divine and holy commandments. 

I bope thou will excuse the length of this, and permit 
me again to request thee not to do as I have done. If 
the candle of the Lord is shining upon thy dwelling; re- 
member those that sit in darkness. For the face of the 
whole earth is not often covered with clouds at the same 

time. Had my state admitted it, I should have answered 
thine long ere this, as J have frequently attempted it, and 
as frequently destroyed the production. 

After saying that my health lias been very poor since 
the yearly meeting, till within a few weeks (having been 
grievously afflicted with asthma), I conclude this by re- 
questing thee to excuse all imperfections, and believe me 
to be thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



11 th of second month, 1835. 

In an interview with a beloved cousin, an elder in the 
Society, to-day, on a religious account, there was a degree 
of encouragement afforded, which I had no expectation of, 
and which I had no right to expect ; but I have reason to 
think it was right, although it was something quite new to 
me in the manner of its falling out. Yet it was formerly, 
and in more favored and better days in our religious 
society, very common, and would be so now if the rightly 
exercised elders were more frequently to be found, and 
more faithful in the discharge of their duty in the encour- 
agement of tender-spirited and rightly-exercised friends, 
in the more retired and secluded ranks of religious society. 
How would those who stand in need of help and encourage- 
ment he felt out, and their feeble hands and trembling 
knees confirmed and strengthened ! And thus the great 

end of religions associations would be promoted, and the 
Cause of Truth might gain ground among the nations, even 
until all flesh should see it together. T. I>. G. 

[The elder alluded to was, no doubt, Stephen Gould.] 



1885. ] THOMAS B, QOTJLD. 51 

To Georgb v. Read. 

Xi w tout, rjtli of second mo., l 835, 

My dbab Friend, — 

My mind is very frequently and affectionately turned 

towards thee, and has been bo, even before I was per- 
ally acquainted with thee, but particularly since the 
option of thy last letter, which tended to confirm me in 

the belief, however it may end. that our correspondence 

had a right beginning. 

DO© 

There is a marked coincidence in my own views of the 

purifying tendency of those spiritual trials alluded to, 

with thine; and 1 am firm in the belief (the state of the 
church considered), that it would be a sign of death rather 
than life, to he without them. Indeed I have seen it 
proved to be SO. w * Plant ye vineyards, and eat the fruit 
of them, for ye shall not go into captivity," is in the 
mouths of many of the false prophets of the present day; 
whereby they are deceiving themselves and the people, 
while the precious seed is already so oppressed and capti- 
vated in themselves, that they are without a correct know- 
ledge of their own condition. That interesting and im- 
portant query, u By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is 
Bmall?" — uttered by the holy prophet, who well under- 
stood the state of things in his day, and through the 
medium of prophetic vision, saw far beyond, even through 
supervening ages into the glorious Gospel day in which we 
live, is often raised in my heart, and sometimes on my 
tongue ; and verily, I do believe, notwithstanding the cry 
of light, knowledge, effort, religious effort, and reforma- 
tion, that there never was a day when this precious and 
immortal seed was more overlooked, borne down, and 
oppressed, than in the present. I do not suppose indeed 
that there are many without the pale of our own Society 
who would unite with me in the sentiment ; but truly the 
sense that I have of these things is very deep and strong; 
and I am firm in the belief, that if it should please the 
Great Disposer of events to raise up and qualify such 
instruments as our early Friends were in I lis hands, the 
world would come as near being turned upsidedown as it 



52 LIFB AND LBTTBBfi [1835. 

did then; and that the same persecuting spirit would be 
lely Bpread through the nations. I do not indeed 

think that it is likely many .would be put to death for 
religion ; but I do think, if any were concerned to take 
the same Btepa they did, that they would be very severely 
persecuted, and by those, too, that make the highest pro- 
won of religion without the actual | don of it. I 
kimw indeed that the enemy's power is a limited power; 
but if he should be disturbed, in his Popish cloak under 
the high-sounding name of Protestantism, there is no 

doubt that his enmity would he greatly excited to destroy 

that which threatened the destruction of his kingdom : for 
the hotter he can make that appear, the more subjects he 
will have. And there is great reason to fear that many 
of those who are bo active in the present day. are far from 
being rightly influenced in their labors, even among the 

members of Our Own Society. I would not however wish 

to be understood as charging any among Friends with 
Popery, but Borne other professors of religion are evidently 

leaning that way, while they are actively engaged in en- 
deavor- to pull it down and destroy it ; and how much 
these rudiment- of it still visible among them tend to 

weaken their hands, it requires no great degree of discern- 
ment tO diseo\ 

Too great an intimacy and union with the world has, 
almost imperceptibly to themselves, leavened many into 
it- spirit and maxims, and the cross of Christ has become 
of none effect. There are many who seem to hail the in- 
creasing disposition to mingle with them, with great joy. 
For my own part, 1 look upon it as a mark of a declined 
Society, and a L r i'e;it and manifest cause of the death 

ami darkness bo prevalent in our assemblies. Oh. that 

the time may he hastened, when the church shall come 

forth out of the wilderness, fair as the moon, clear as the 
sun, ami terrible as an army with banners ! We have 
become a great and respectable people, and we may he 

killed with kindness ; and in proportion a^> we mix, unad- 
visedly, with other-, our own peculiar testimonies will go 
into disuse : indeed 1 think there is ;i danger of some of 
them being tost : and I d<> verily believe that we are as 



1885. ] THOMAS B. OOULD. 58 

much bound to dwell alone, and not to be reckoned among 
the nations, afl ever ancimt Israel was, and thai there 

peculiar testimonies given us to bear. 

There is nt>thing, 1 apprehend, more irksome and con- 
trary to the natural mind, than those necessary and salu- 
tary restraints imposed upon us by an entire dependence 
upon, and a reverent waiting for, the word of divine com- 
mandment and the unfolding of divine counsel, BO ah 
lutely necessary to the acceptable performance of religious 
duties. The check is too severe to be submitted to by 
many, and hence arises that superficial and unbaptizing 
ministry bo prevalent among us, as well as among other 
professors of Christianity. An ardent desire to do good 

and to promote the great cause in the earth, may even 

proceed from the transformations of the adversary, if the 
creaturely will is not so completely reduced as that there 
is none left. And here there will he no chance for him 

to work, as it comes to be so reduced and slain ; for lie 
cannot work upon that measure of divine grace ; with 
which we have all been favored in a greater or less 
decree ; and when this is suffered to come into dominion, 
then all his deceitful baits will be brought to light and to 
judgment ; and this he cannot endure ; there is nothing 
he more sincerely hateth, and therefore he must and will 
flee. The solicitude I feel is very great, that all those 
concerned may be careful to know the putting forth of 
the holy finger, and the limitations also : then should not 
only those on whom the labor was bestowed be helped and 
strengthened, but the instrument also ; those that preach 
the Gospel should in reality live of the Gospel : and the 
Apostle Paul gives this plain reason : " For the laborer is 
worthy of his hire." 

It was very satisfactory to me to receive the intelligence 
that thou hadst been reading Friends' books. I do sin- 
cerely wish it was more generally the case. Next to the 
Holy Scriptures, I believe them to be the most profitable 
kind of reading in which we can be engaged ; and I am 
firm in the belief, if it was more generally the case among 
our young Friends, as well as some older ones, there would 
be less disposition to mingle with the world, and to copy 



54 LIFE AND LETTKBS OF [18 

its customs and manners. It has been very convincing 
and confirming to me to meet, in them, with views which 
accorded exactly with openings I had been previously 
favored with ; and although at the time 1 had no doubt of 
their divine original, yel I have been ready to compare it 
to a threefold cord that is not easily broken. 

That thou and I may be increasingly careful to seek 
for and to follow Him who was given for a light unto the 
people, a leader and a commander of the people, is what 
1 greatly desire. Here I believe we should be favored 
with that Imly help which is sufficient to supply every 
lack, and to heal every wound ; and thus coming to re- 
ceive with meekness the engrafted Word, should be nour- 
ished and grow thereby, and be favored to fill our several 
allotments with religious propriety. 

Thou wilt perceive that I have continued my scrawl to 
considerable length again ; and after requesting thee to 
excuse all imperfections (for I have written it in the mill, 
and while it lias been going, as I do nearly all that I do 

write), I conclude, 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



From Thomas P>. Gould to 



Third month, 5th, 1835. 

In looking a little towards thee lately, my spirit has 
been impressed with this language : %k Thus saith the 
Master, my time is at hand ; I will keep the passover at 
thy house with my disciples.' 1 Thou maysl remember it 
was addressed by our blessed Lord to one of His disciples, 
in answer to the query, "Where wilt thou that we prepare 
for thee to i at the passover?" And they were commanded 
to enter into a certain city, and informed that they should 
meet a man bearing a pitcher of water, whom they should 
follow into that house wherein he entered, and should 
salute the good man of the house with that salutation 

above quoted ; and they were further informed that lie 

Bhould .-how them a large upper room, furnished and pre- 



•").] Til 

II I! 

v. mj friend, I 

ear i I with 

furnis 

. i 

her of 
that thou art at 

.dually fulfilled. 1 
_ 
iply with tli- 

iiilfilment of the pron. 
" I will BU] I 

that t! litiona] promise of thi 

ry, ti- 
lt thou keep Him His 
already * the dr 
ght! Open unto Him: be 

I, and to follow in the way of B ling, :i in 

that sure of divine light He lias been pi to en- 

_ .ten thee withal, and ol grace with which he h 
thee. B shall * 1 be filled with fat iOu 

wil: run with patience the race set bef 

they that run in a race run all : 
and I verily believe, not only a iarg I of labor would 

open before the so. The 

In thy can 
langnag If made ins; 

mental in turning the poop. nd no: 

but as thou submitted onto His yoke, it w 

« 

\ and Hifi len wc rough pla - 

would be made smooth, and crooked path- .it. 

N thing but the opposition of our owi willfl 

:he way of our advancement, in conjui: itli 

the of him who is seek: 

v whom he c d another. I h:. 

plicit as I m . from I that 
thou canst understand wh if I am not 
mistaken in my fee. It und Li! 



56 LOTS AND LBTTBRfl OF [18! 

MEMORANDUM, 1885, 

"Departed this life, on the eleventh of third month, 
L835, my endeared friend, Abigail Robinson. b her 
death, the Society of which she had been an eminently 
useful member from early life, and minister for forty years, 
(she being in the seventy-seventh year of her aire) has met 
with no common bereavement. She was a woman erf un- 
common intellectual strength and clearness, united with 
mnch improvement in the literary way ; and over and 
above all other considerations, was added that of dee]) re- 
ligious experience, SO that she became, like Deborah, a 
mother in Israel. And oh! how few such she has left 

behind her ^ in the consideration of which, how doth my 
spirit mourn! And I can adopt the language: 'The 
fathers, where are they ? the prophets, do they live for- 
ever?' 0, Thou, who raised her up, fitted and qualified 
her for eminent usefulness in thy church, be pleased to 
cause the mantles of the Elijahs of the present day to rest 
upon theElishas; even a double portion of thy Spirit, 
that BO there may he a succession of standard-hearers and 
te8timony-bearers continued in the church, that the pre- 
cious testimonies of everlasting truth may he faithfully 
Supported, and may never be suffered to fall to the ground ! 

" As it respects myself, in this afflicting bereavement, my 
greatest desire 1 think is, that I may be enabled to seek 
out what this dispensation is speaking unto me in particu- 
lar : that BO 1 may he enabled to turn it to a good account : 
being linn in the belief that trouble ariseth not out of the 
dust, nor affliction out of the ground, but that every afHic- 
tion is Buffered to fall upon us for some wise and benevo- 
lent end. And if this has a tendency to drive me closer 
home, even into a nearer and more intimate union with 
that Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. I may 
witness improvement by it as the instrumental means. 

•• 1 1th of third month, at two o'clock, attended the funeral 
of my dear departed friend, at her late residence on the 
Point. Although the ground was exceedingly wet, it was 

largely attended, and by the most respectable inhabitants 

of the town; and we wore favored, as 1 apprehend, with 



1 B8& ) THoMAS l:. Q01 I.I>. 57 

the overshadowing wine of Ancient Goodness, through a 

• inir than usual ; in which bu1 li \ in 

mony was borne to the Christian virtues, exemplary life, 
and peaceful close of the dear deceased, and to the precious 
truth she made profession of, and lived in the possession 
My mind was weightily impressed with that injunc- 
tion of our blessed Lord, * Watch therefore, for ye know 
not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at 
midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning. 
Blessed arc those servants, whom the Lord, when he 
cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that 
lie shall gird himself and make them to sir down to meat, 

and will come forth and Berve them. 1 Although I cannot 

help thinking that this relates to that intimate union 
which subsists between the adorable Head, ami the humble, 

Watchful members of the militant church on earth, vet I 

do not think it would l>e straining the text, to apply it to 
that watchfulness and earnest expectation with which the 
mi ml redeemed from the earth waits for the coming of the 
Lord Jesus, to conduct it safely through the dark valley 
of the shadow of death to the church triumphant in heaven. 
And from my personal knowledge of the state of her mind 
for a long time before, but particularly near the close of 
her probationary existence, I think it may in this case 
apply to it. Indeed it seemed to be the posthumous lan- 
guage of my precious friend to me in particular, and power- 
fully exhorted me to such a life of dedication to the cause, 
and patient waiting for the power of truth, by which that 
bread i^ still mercifully broken, and handed in secret, for 
the sustenance and the strengthening of the hungry soul, 
enabling it to hold up the head and journey forward in 
the line of divine appointment, however hard to the fleshly 
part. And nothing else can give strength adequate to the 
performance of this great and all-important work." 

MEMORANDUM, WITnOUT DATE, PROBABLY 1836. 

" Our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and 
our sins testify Against as; for our transgressions arcwith 

us, and as for our iniquities, we know them." Isaiah o ( J : 12. 



58 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1835. 

Yet I feel bonne! with thankfulness to acknowledf 
that this day in meeting I was favored, while reviewing 
and bemoaning my Bad condition, with a renewed and 
lively sense of this truth, namely: that as I was engaged 
to stand still in that Light which made the evil manifest, 
I Bhonld be favored with power and Btrength to withstand 
the fiery darts of the devil ; the Light being nothing l< 
than the Seed of the woman, which is alone able to bruise 
the head of the serpent, and t<> which the promise is that 
it Bhall do it. Notwithstanding this is no new doctrine 
with me, but one that 1 have long believed in, yea, at 
times (in better days perhaps) have felt concerned to re- 
commend to others, yet the revival of it in my remem- 
brance at a time when I was ready to adopt the language 
above quoted, and other parts of this fifty-ninth chapter 
of Isaiah, did convey encouragement to my distressed mind, 
believing it to have been produced by the influence of the 
Holy Spirit, which is also called the Comforter; and it 
was declared concerning him, by the Master, while on 
earth, that when he was come, he should not only reprove 
or convince the world of sin, of righteousness and of judg- 
ment, but should bring all tilings into their remembrance, 
whatsoever he had spoken unto them; and further, "He 
shall take of mine and show it unto you." 

Although I am far from believing that the Holy Spirit 
influences only in subordination to the Scriptures, or rather 
only through them as instruments, and through providen- 
tial occurrences, yet I believe it is not inconsistent with 
the will and pleasure of Almighty Goodness, powerfully 
and profitably to impress the mind through these mediums. 
With respect to the Scriptures, I readily and heartily sub- 
scribe to the sentiment, that whatsoever any do, pretending 
to the Spirit, contrary to them, may be justly accounted 
a delusion of the devil. 



From Tiioma- P>. Gould to 



Xi :w port, 27th of 3d mo , 1835. 
My OEAB FRIBND : 

Although I greatly desire to be preserved from pre- 



183-"'. ] THOMAS B. GOUi.n. 

ramptuous -in-, yel I am at times f I to foe) a living 

m to be round faithful in the work of my day; ana 
a part of that work may possibly be to " comfort I that 
mourn, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the 
opening of the prison doors to them that are bound/ 1 I 
do not, however, mean to be understood, in the line of 
public ministry, or that I possess any power or might of 
my own, sufficient for these things; but as 1 do myself 
highly value instrumental labor, and have realized its 
blessed effect in some measure, so I am inclined to believe 
that it is sometimes bestowed on others, not only with the 
appearance, but with the efficacy and power of truth. 
Under these impressions, then, permit me to expostulate a 
little with thee, and to recommend the apostle's advice, 

u Whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the 
same rule, let us mind the same thing." If thou hast not 
been sensible of earnest and living desires having been 
raised in thy heart, similar to that of the church to the 
spouse, " Tell me, oh thou, whom my soul loveth, where 
thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest as at 
noon," I am greatly mistaken in my feelings and views 
concerning thee. And if this is the case, which I am 
confident it is, then let nothing prevent thee from continu- 
ing thy search until thou hast found Him whom thou seek- 
est. Although it is not an impossibility that "the Lord 
whom thou seek est" may come " suddenly into his temple," 
thy heart, with great power, majesty and might, so that it 
may be filled therewith in a remarkable manner, yet " if 
he tarry, wait for him;" and in the meantime be en- 
treated to remember, that through that long journey the 
children of Israel took, through the Red Sea and the wil- 
derness, their garments "waxed not old, neither did their 
feet swell;" and that the Lord would not bring them by 
the way of the land of the Philistines, though that was 
near, lest peradventure, their heart should melt when they 
saw war, and they should turn back into Egypt ; but 
brought them up by the way of the Red Sea and the 
wilderness, yea, " he led them about and instructed them." 
Oh, that thy faith in him may be strengthened, that 
thou mayst indeed believe him near, as indeed he is about 



60 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1835. 

our bed, and about our path, and spieth out all our wa 

thai neither thou oor any other hath need to Bay, and 
the apostle says, " Say n Bhall ascend into heai 

to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend 
into the deep, to bring him up again from the dead?" I 
want thee to pay particular attention to this caution, and 
also to the remarkable testimony to his inward appearance, 
which immediately follows: "But what saith it? The 
word is nigh thee, oven in thy heart and in thy mouth." 
lie also adds, - This is theword of faith which we preach/ 4 
Now it was by an attention to this same word of faith, 
that the elder.- obtained a good report ; and it is a living 
efficacious faith, by which a man may even live, and it 
works by love to the purifying of the heart. They whose 
conduct is governed by this divine principle of life and 
power, are not stimulated to holiness of life and conversa- 
tion by fear of punishment, but by love. They love the 
Father because He first loved them, and gave his only- 
begotten Son a ransom for them, that whosoever believeth 
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life ; and 
the apostle Says, k * 'Hie life that I now live in the fiesh, I 
live by faith in the Son of God ;" — faith in his inward ap- 
pearance, as well as his outward and visible appearanee, 
no doubt. So thou wilt perceive that k * without faith it is 
impossible to please God :" hence the great desire and con- 
Cem that I feel lor thee, that thy faith may be Strength- 
ened in the reality of those divine requirements that may 
be made at thy hands : being firm in the belief that among 
those that have been doomed to everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord, not a lew of them have 
been so from the fact that they refused to admit the truth 
of this doctrine : and others, who admitted it, yea, were 
convinced of its truth beyond a doubt, refused to comply 

with its requisitions because they were so small; in like 

manner as it was -aid of the Master himself, " \ ^ not this 
the carpenter's son ? are not his brethren and sisters all 
with us?" So that there is great danger of overlooking 

this "grain of mustard-seed," this "little leaven," or, to 

change the similitude, this "one talent/ 5 which the man 

to whom it was committed hid in a napkin, because it was 



1885. ) mas b, aoi u>. 61 

l>Ut one ; while it WOuld 1 ftfl 

r tin- five wrvi- for those to whom those muni' 
^vic commit ted. 

1 want thee truly and honestly to give these hints that 
weight they may appear to deserve, notwithstanding the 
of the instrument, or the homely and bungling 
manner in which they arc thrown out ; for I apprehend 
that my views in this arc of a more exalted nature than 
to hare attempted any display, had I been capable of it. 
And Buffer me to add that I firmly believe, as thou art 

teemed to ad consistently with the light thou art fa- 
vored with, thou wilt in due time become wiser than thy 
teachers, and wilt witness the restoration of paths for the 
lame to walk in. by ffifl holy help who remains to be the 

epairer of breaches;" that the mists and the clouds 
that the enemy has been permitted to raise, will be dispel- 
led by the brightness of the arising of the Sun of righteous- 

s, which lias been predicted and signified by the morn- 
ing star already appearing in thy horizon : which is a sure 
guide to further illumination, as it is attended to: that SO 
thou mayst happily experience the work to go progressively 
on, and be enabled to cast off thy old garments as they 
become burdensome, which they soon will, if thou art faith- 
ful : for I do believe, that as thy eyes become afresh 
anointed with the eye-salve of the heavenly kingdom, thou 
wilt see thyself to be clothed in rags, as all have ever been 
favored to see, that have been concerned to obtain the 
u linen pure and white, which is the righteousness of 
saints/' and to be clothed upon by it. As this becomes 
thy happy experience, thou wilt see the dead formality in 
which the generality of the professors of the Christian 
name are living, and their ministers are preaching, and 
wilt be prepared to adopt the language of Job, u Can that 
which is unsavory be eaten without salt, or is there any 
taste in the white of an egg?" also to see how much their 
labor is to keep people in the dark, that all they have may 
come through them. And how much they contribute to 
this end, the present state of the churches bears ample 
evidence to those who have had an eye opened to discover 
the signs of the times, which are indeed gloomy ; for the 

G 



62 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1830. 

tongues of the Bucking children cleave unto the roofs of 
their mouths for thirst ; yea, when the children ask bread, 

no man breaketh it unto them. 

But under this gloomy view of things, I have been com- 
forted, while writing, in the renewed belief that the foun- 
dation of our God Btandeth sure, having this seal, the 
Lord knoweth them thai are Bis; and that Jle is still re- 
deeming by His precious blood, sprinkled indeed upon 
their hearts and consciences, to the remission of sins that 
are past, through His forbearance; and by the powerful 
operation of Hi> Holy Spirit, redeeming from the power 
of Bin Buch as shall be Baved \f they continue faithful* 

Here thou wilt be favored, by the immediate openings of 
the pure truth upon thy mind, and by living experience, 
to know what it is to have thy heart sprinkled from an 
evil conscience, and thy body washed with pure water, — 
the baptism which alone saveth, — and to eat clean pro- 
vender which has been winnowed with the shovel and the 
fan, even to eat the flesh and to drink the blood of the Son 
of man: not any outward flesh or material blood, but in 
the mystery : thou shalt eat, and thy soul be satisfied with 
marrow and fatness, for His flesh is meat indeed, and His 
blood is drink indeed; His words, they are spirit and they 
are life, and whosoever drinketh the water that He giv< 
they thirst not, neither go to any inferior spring to draw, 
for it remains in them a well of living water, springing up 
unto everlasting life. Here He is known to be the resur- 
rection and the life, and whosoever believeth in Him, 
though he were dead, yet he comes to be renewed, quick- 
ened, and made truly alive unto God. And as thou goest 
On in the heavenly race, thou shalt experience further this 
truth, k * he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die :" 
and here coming to this blessed experience, thy curiosity 
about the resurrection of the bodv will be staved, and thou 

>halt be made quite willing to leave it where the Holy 

Spirit h-ft it in the Scriptures. However, ** thy flesh shall 

res! in hope." having seen the Father; for whosoever hath 

11 the Son hath -ecu the Father also, for "no man 

knoweth the Father, save the Son and he to whom the Son 

shall reveal Him;" and the revelation of the Son to profit 



8. | THOMAS i:. GOULD. 68 

is only in and by tin* Spirit. For notwithstanding the 
T our blessed Lord had been so long time with 
Him, had Been tin 4 mighty works which He wrought, 
they knew Him not; as is plain by the reply that Philip 
made to the declaration of the Waster, when he said, 
k% Show n- the Father, and it sufficeth as." The reply made 
by our blessed Lord is very striking : ** Have I been so long 
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?' 1 
for it appears thai He had told them, that "whosoever had 
n the Son had seen the Father also;" to which he re- 
turned, "Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. n Oh! 
it -onus to me that this is sufficient to convince any. that 

they know Him not, as He was the living and eternal Son, 

until He had been revealed unto them by the Spirit : for 

He expressly declared to Peter, that flesh and blood had 

not revealed it unto him, "but my Father who is in hea- 
ven ; n and strengthened and confirmed this view by say- 
ing, "Yes, thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build 

my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 

it." But Peter was a poor, frail man, although an emi- 
nent diseiple : hut all those that have known their founda- 
tion to he on this immovable Rock of divine immediate 
revelation, on these, as they keep their feet, all storms 
and tempests beat in vain, because they are founded on a 
rock, an immutable rock, the foundation laid in Zion. 
"Behold I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried 
ne, a sure foundation ; whosoever bclieveth thereon 
shall not make haste." This is that upon which David 
was favored to know his feet established, that was higher 
than he, when he had the new song put into his mouth, 
even high praises to His name, who had established him 
thereon that he could not be removed, because He had 
made u a covenant with him, ordered in all things and 
sure," even the "sure mercies of David;" than whom 
none I believe of the servants of the Lord in those days 
experienced a greater degree of illumination in the way 
that we contend for it. Hence arose those very numerous 
testimonies to its excellency; as when he implied it by 
saying, '-Oh, send out thy light and thy truth; let them 
lead me ; let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy 



64 LOTS AND LETTERS OF [1836. 

tabernacles : n then, said he, "I will teach trail 
thy ' nd sinners shall ] rerted anto thee.' 1 oh ! 

the preciousness of being brought to the holy hill and 
tabernacle of God, by the arising of this Divine Light in 
the soul, and the establishment of truth there ! Here an 
experience is attained of offering unto the Lord an offering 
in righteousness, even a pure offering; for I do assuredly 
believe thai when we are favored with a just sense of the 
relation in which we stand to our Father who is in heaven, 
as ^e abide under that influence by which the sense is 
given, we are favored by the same influence to see that the 
living only can praise Him acceptably, thai "the dead 
cannot praise" Him. From this, ardent desires are raised 
in the soul, to ]>e quickened and made truly alive unto 
Him; and as this is the case, our prayers (though they 
may be hut sighs or groans rightly begotten, or tears shed 
in truth) will arise before Him as " sweet incense," and 
the "lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice;" 
yea, they will be abundantly more acceptable than the 
most eloquent words or sublime expressions uttered when 
the heart is far from Him, because they are the smug- 
glings and the groanings of His seed under oppression, as 
it was in Egypt under the hard taskmasters. But the 
precious and consoling language uttered on that occasion 
.-till continues to hold good: " I have seen, I have seen 
the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have 
heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them." 
Notwithstanding thy task may be doubled, and thou niayst 
be required to make brick as it were without straw, verily 
I say unto thee, as thou art concerned to follow Moses thy 
leader, thou shah be delivered; yea, when darkness covers 

all the land of Egypt, thou slialt have light in thy ( Joshen : 
for all the children of Israel, the true seed, the wrestling 

1 of Jacob, "had light in their dwellings;" and when 
the destroying angel shall be sent through all the land to 
& istroy the first-born, k * from the first-born <>f Pharaoh that 

-ill on the throne, to the first-born of the beggar that 
si tteth on the dunghill/ 9 the destruction shall not come nigh 
thee, " the lintel and the two side-posts of thy door" having 



1886.] THOMAS B. QOULD. 65 

'i Bprinkled frith blood, although Burely it may have 
•i by a bunch of hj a bitter herb) dipped therein. 

That thou mayst come to experience these things, is 
what I greatly desire for thee; and may I not Bay, I tra- 
vail with thee, that "Christ may be formed in fche< 
for except this is the case, all that He has done for us, 

without US, will be of no avail to US. This then is the 

work of regeneration, by which we become "new crea- 
tures, n haying new faculties communicated and dispenc 

unto us, that "as we have home the image of the earthly, 
we may also bear the image of the heavenly," and may 
lie enabled to taste the doctrines and try the fruits of 
other-. The spirit f true judgment will he given, as 

it is written, " 1 will ho a spirit of judgment to them that 
.-it in judgment;" ami strength will be afforded to "turn 
the battle to the irate:" at which gaining an entrance by 
following the Captain who never yet was foiled in battle, 
noi his armies put to flight, thou wilt gain an admission 
into that city, ** whose wails are salvation, ami wh< 
gates are praise." . . . T. B. Gouli*. 

The novel doctrines of the party which seceded about tin's 
period from the Society in England, known commonly under 
the name of the " Beacon" secession, had for some time been 
favorably received and promoted by Elisha Bates of Ohio, 
and by some in high standing and great influence in New 
England Yearly Meeting. They went so far in their de- 
sire to spread these innovating views, as to make a remark- 
able, though at that time an unsuccessful attempt, to intro- 
duce the book entitled " The Beacon," into the Boarding 
School at Providence, R. I., under the charge of the 
Yearly Meeting. Seth and Mary Davis, avIio were then 
superintendents of that institution, and that faithful elder 
Moses Brown, one of the committee, then in very advanced 
age, were firm and decided in their opposition to the intro- 
duction of such a work, and by their steadfastness incurred 
the hostility of those who promoted the innovation. Some 
of the publications of the Beaconite schism reached the 
hands of Thomas B. Gould, lie was not slow to per- 
ceive their unsound nature, and endeavored to warn his 

6* 



G6 LIFE AND LETTKBS OF [1S3G. 

their dangerous tendency. He saw, too, 
that these attacks upon the faith of our forefathers were 
of the very Bame origin as the errors of Joseph John Gur- 
ney, and that the writings of the latter had indeed been 
greatly instrumental in promoting those outward and 
superficial view.-, into which these people sought to leaven 
3 ciety. 

From T. B. G. to Setii and Mart Davis. 

Newport, I5tb u\' 3d mo., 1836. 
My dbar Friends, Seth and Mary Davis: 

I believe I can Bay in truth, that I have 

felt my mind drawn into near sympathy and unity with 

you in your many trials and exercises in the midst of a 
crooked and perverse generation, and a deeply revolted 
and backslidden people; and in your honest and faithful 
labors to exalt the standard of Truth, and support the tes- 
timonies thereof, amongst those who are turning their hacks 
upon the one, and trampling the other under their feet. 

I have nor been altogether ignorant of the persecution 
which has fallen to your let since you left your own peace- 
ful abode, and undertook the arduous care of the Institu- 
tion ; hut, my dear friends, "if ye be reproached for the 
name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and 
of God resteth upon you." This, I have no doubt, you 
have witnessed to your consolation and support, while the 
id of dust, which the enemy has been permitted to raise 
tins! you, has been returned with accumulated strength 
into the very faces of those who have been instrumental 
in promoting his wicked designs; for you may remember 
the Apostle immediately adds, "On their part he is evil 
ken of, but on your part he is glorified/' 
I could have wished, for the Truth's sake, that your 
healths would have admitted your longer stay; for I do 
assuredly know thai your management, and the wisdom 
which has been displayed therein, has given satisfaction 
to nil those whose visi< mfficiently clear to discrimi- 

nate between thing and thing, and who are yet able to 
give the " Living child to the right mother." But ale 



L8J inoMAfl i . li». 61 

the number of tl Bmall indeed, compared witb th 

who either openly deny, or undervalue, or disregard the 
only appointed and consecrated n of attaining the 

spirit of a sound mind, and of true judgment : for it is 
written, U I will be a spirit of judgment t<> them that 
in judgment :" and if //< who is, indeed, the R rfid 
mseUor^ is rejected, and not suffered to bear rule, and 
the government I upon // r : — which you well 

kno . be the case, even while the a loud cry of 

" Lord ! Lord !" — it is no marvel that there Bhould be con- 
fusion, and that the language should be confounded, — 
that one Bhould be crying "Lo, here!' 1 and the other 
U L ' — for this has guishing charac- 

teristic of all the B the days of Noah 

a until now. However, I do believe, that the stone 
which has been Bet at nought, and rejected by these wise 
builders, is indeed) the Headstone of the corner, the Rock 
on which the true Church is built, and against which the 
>f hell can never prevail. I also believe that the 
object of the saints' faith is unchangeable; that it has 
been the same in all ages, and will so continue; that 
none but those who come by their faith in the same v 
that Peter did, are members of this Church, or true be- 
lievers in the Lord of life and glory, or can possibly 
inherit, or will receive the blessing pronounced upon him, 
"Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonah, for flesh and bl 
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in 
en." 
Now if we can obtain true and saving faith, andjusti- 
tion thereby, in any other way than the saints informer 
9 did, even by divine, immediate revelation, then a 
man may call God, Father, — and Jesus, Lord, and not 
by the Holy Ghost; which would be and is, a manifi 
contradiction of plain Scripture doctrine. 

I should not probably have blundered on these things 

this time, if I had not most surely believed that the 

and of the opposition which has been manifested to 

you, is the same as that which is Beeking to overturn 

those precious principles and doctrines which I have 

briefly hinted at ; indeed they seemed to lie so much in 



G8 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1836. 

my way, thai T could not well gel over them ; but while I 
have been writing, I have been forcibly reminded of the 
striking similarity there is between your case and that of 
the prophet Daniel, against whom his adversaries were 
forced to confess they should not be able to find an occa- 
sion, except concerning the law of his God. 

Well, my dear friends, may you continue to go on in 
this your might, and fight valiantly for the faith which 
was once delivered to the saints, and has been testified 
unto by a cloud of witnesses, even down to the present 
day, and in it. notwithstanding it is a day of so deep re- 
volt from the law and the testimony. For the Land) and 

His followers will have the victory, seeing He never was 

foiled in battle nor His armies put to flight, so long as 
they fought with reference to His divine counsel and 
under His banner: and as I am a believer in the doctrine 
that the weapons of this warfare are not carnal, I cannot 
help being grieved to Bee those who have begun in the 
Spirit, seeking to be made perfect by the flesh, winch, 
indeed, profiteth nothing. ...... 

I suppose you have seen Elisha Bates's "Vindication." 

. . . . I have greatly feared that it would do much hurt, 
and even tend to separate some still more widely from the 
Truth, who have already lost their innocency and integrity, 
as well as wisdom and judgment. Oh, it Beems as if the 
language of lamentation might be rightly taken up, "How 
are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished ! 
Tell it not in (lath, publish it not in the streets of Askc- 
lon, — lot the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the 
daughters of the uncircumcised triumph !" It lias, with 
me. utterly failed of vindicating his character; for if the 
principles and doctrine- he has there defended be the 

doctrines of the Gospel, — to say nothing about Quaker- 
ism, — I never understood them at all : and if the doc- 
trine of Justification by Faith, which we hear so much 

about, be a justification while sin remains, by imputed 
righteousness, without good works being in very deed 

produced by the Spirit — I deny it. For this is "another 

G -pel ;" seeing the very purpose for which the Son ami 
sent of the Father was manifested in the flesh, was, to 



1 B36, | THOU \s B. QOl LD. 

M <l ' the dei il, M I h trail 

to put an end t" -in. and to bring in everlasting i 

There is another expn which he has used in the 

M Vindication," and in bis public ministry, — I have often 
heard others use it of late — other ministers — via., k, -il<-nt 
meditation/ 1 Now this does nol convey to my mind the 
same idea which I have been led to believe silent waiting 
upon the Lard to mean : it semis rather to mean soi 
thing which we may propose to ourselves to reflect upon, — 

ie subject — some theme — and nol that patient waiting 
for Christ, for the arising of His precious and Divine Life 
in the soul, or for the renewal of strength there, agreeable 
to that of the prophet [saiah, — "they that wait upon the 
Lord shall renew their Btrength ; they shall mount up- 
wards with wings as eagles, — they shall run and not be 

try, — they Bhall walk and not faint." Now I can con- 
ceive of a state in which there may he outward silence, 
and there may be meditation, it may be on subjects that 
are good in themselves, and proper in their places ; and 
yet there may be no waiting on the Lord, — no mounting 
upwards above our own thoughts, — no renewal of strength, 
spiritually, — nothing in it all which would enable us to run 
in the way of the Lord's commandments and not be weary, 
or to walk therein and not faint. No, but it would effec- 
tually prevent us from coining to a knowledge of what His 
mind and will concerning us is, because it would be doing 
<>ur own works, and thinking our own thoughts, while the 
holy Apostle spoke of a state, in which "every thought" 
was brought "into subjection to the obedience of Christ." 
This I conceive to be the only way in which a preparation 
to perform true and acceptable worship can be attained to, 
agreeably to the well-known principles of truth as pro- 
fessed by Friends formerly, but which now appears to be 
too strait for these " sons of the prophets" to dwell in. 
It would have been well for them and us, however, before 
they undertook to enlarge their dwelling, if they had con- 
sulted the true prophet, and said, u Be content, we pray 
thee, and go with us ;" but this does not appear to have 
been the case, — it is evident they have gone alone, and 



70 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [183G. 

gone where, had they followed His leading, they never 
would have been found. The axe-head, too, lias fallen 
into the water: it appears in some instances to have been 
"borrowed," but for my part I see little probability of its 
being made to "swim" again, for I very much fear there 
will not be an application to that Heavenly Power which 

alone can make it. 

Indeed, I am entirely at a loss to reconcile his manner 
of treating the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, 
and of judgment, with what I believe to be the truth ; as 

well as his specious endeavor to elevate the Scriptures 
above the place in which Friends have held them ; and 
the subject of missions, the latter being one with which 
Friends have nothing to do, as they are at present con- 
ducted. ..... . 

After requesting to be excused for the liberty I am 
taking, as well as all other imperfections (seeing I have 
written in my mill, while it has been grinding fast). I 
conclude by asking you to accept my dear love; I would 
add. in the everlasting and unchangeable Truth, if I were 
not afraid of presuming beyond what I have yet attained 
to, even a possession therein : which, however, I am, I 
trU8t, at times sincerely desirous may be the case. 

Thomas B. Gould. 



From T. B. Gould to 



Ni: wport, 1st of Gth mo., 1836. 

My endeared Friend and longed-for in tiik Lord: 

My mind has been very deeply exercised and concerned 
on thy account, the whole time I have been awake, since 
I loft thy house on first-day evening; so that tears have 
been as my sorrowful meat, while my spirit has been im- 
pressed with this language, in the firm belief that it is 
sorrowfully verified in thy case: "A certain man went 
dottm from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thiev< 
who robbed him, and wounded him, leaving him half dead." 
Now, my dear friend, I believe thou hast very lately been 
favored with a renewed Bight of Jerusalem, the quiet liabi- 



1836.] THOMAS B. QOl LB. 71 

tation, the tabernacle thai Bhould no1 have been taken 
down. Not one of the cords thereof Bhould have been 
broken, nor one of the Btakea Bhould ever have been re- 
moved, it' thou hadsl steadily and singly kept thine eye 
to thai Light by which, and by which alone, thou couldsl 
isibly be enabled lee it. Bui instead thereof, thou 

nasi descended from Jerusalem to Jericho, the city thai 
was destined to utter destruction : and here thou hasl 
fallen among thieves, who have robbed thee of the precious 
if good with which thou wast renewedly favored, and 
which it Bhould have been thy care by all means to have 
kept ; agreeably to the solemn injunction, k * Keep that 
which thou hast, and let no man take thy crown." Yea, 
they have wounded the precious life, which is more than 
the meat which perisheth, and have left thee " half dead." 

as to any sensible feeling and enjoyment of it. For thou 
mayst remember the declaration of our Divine Lord and 
Master, "the life is more than meat, and the body than 
raiment." Now, although thou mayst obtain food for that 
part in thee which is designed for utter destruction, by 
thus descending as from Jerusalem to Jericho, yet it a v 1 1 1 
only increase thy woe and misery ; it will render thee 
barren and unfruitful in that which is most excellent. 
And this is what the Apostle recommended should be pre- 
ferred and sought after ; and not only so — for except 
the branch abide in the vine it cannot bear fruit of itself, 
but shall be "cast forth as a branch," and when it is so 
i forth, "men gather them, and they are burned." 
Truly, my dear friend, hast thou not experienced this sor- 
rowfully to be the case, when, for want of abiding in the 
Vine of life which has been made to shoot forth in thee, 
and for want of keeping the house and abiding in thy tent, 
thou hast gone forth without the sacred inclosure ? — how 
have the men of the world gathered thee, and thou hast 
been burned by their scorching, withering, and blasting 
influence ! On the other hand, when thou hast kept better 
company, hast thou not been at times sensibly leavened 
with good ? Hast thou not been sensible of the prevalence 
of earnest and living desires raised in thy heart after an 
advancement in the just man's path, which is declared to 



72 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1836. 

as a shining tight, which Bhineth brighter and brighter, 
unto the perfect day ? 

Oh ! turn in. I beseech thee, to thai measure of divine 
light and grace with which thou art favored: occupy with 
the precious gift, yea, obey the injunction, "Occupy till I 
cotiae;' 1 and 1 do verily believe thou wilt find very little 
more required of thee at present, than thus to occupy with 
it. and watch its movements, and follow rts gentle lead- 
ings. Cast all thy care upon Him who hath in great mercy 
favored thee with that and numberless other blessings, and 
He will, in His own due and appointed time, enlarge thy 
dwelling; yea, He will introduce thee into the glorious 
liberty of J I is children, by delivering thee from under the 
hard ta>k-master, who is seeking, by all possible means, 
thy utter destruction ; who is seeking to harden thy heart, 
and persuading thee to turn a deaf ear to the reproofs of 
instruction, which are the way of life and salvation; so 
that the time will come when thou wilt have to Bay, in the 
anguish and bitterness of thy soul, "Oh that I had not 
hated instruction ami despised ivproof, for the harvest is 
past, the summer is ended and gone, and I am not healed !" 
For most assuredly every knee shall bow and every tongue 
confess, either in mercy or in judgment, that Jesus Christ 
is L<u-d. to the glory of God the Father! But oh! that 
this awful stroke may in great mercy be averted! — that 
thou maysl be enabled to leave those things that are be- 
hind, and journey forward ; for thou h&St encompassed this 
mountain in the wilderness long enough, while the language 
of thy heart has been. I remember the leeks and the onions 
which 1 did eat in Egypt freely. Thus I believe thou h. 
lusted after the llesh-pots of Egypt; but these must be 
given up, and thou must not suffer thyself to lust after 
them any more at all, but press forward towards the pro- 
mised land, which indeed Hows with milk and honey; and 
if thou art willing and obedient, thou shalt eat of the good 
fruit of that land : but if thou art disobedient, thy carcass 
will fall in the desert, and then, what an evil savor will 

arise from it ! For truly my mind seems to be deeply im- 
pressed with the belief, that thou wilt fall into greater 
evils than ever thou hast yet known, except thou listen to 



6.] THOMAS B. GOULD, 18 

the voice of thy teachers, and incline thine oar to them 
thai instruct tnee, not calling in question the manner in 
which it may be conveyed, or the means which may be used 

com ey it. 

Oh, dear friend, if the 1 i <_r 1 1 1 in thee become darkness, 
how great will that darkness be! As eye hath not seen, 
nor car heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of 

man to conceive the good things which the Lord hath in 

store for them that love Him, so I feel deeply concerned 

to tell thee, that then little thinkest how much worse thy 
last state will he than the first, it' thou dost not yield obe- 
dience to that good haind and power of the Lord, which 
hath shown thee clearly what things his controversy is 
inst« And now, after having in vain tried to obtain 
relief, without again alluding in plain terms to a subject 
concerning which I have spoken to thee before, I find I 
must come to the point; 1 must call upon thee, I must 
be8eech thee, and entreat thee, in the bowels of love, — 
even that love which passeth the understanding of the 
natural man, — to forsake that company of which I spoke 
to thee the other day, lest it prove thy utter ruin : and 
suffer me to quote for thy encouragement a very precious 
blessing pronounced upon that man who pursues the course 
which I recommend to thee, viz.: u Blessed is the man 
who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor 
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of 
the scornful, hut whose delight is in the law T of the Lord, 
and therein he doth meditate day and night. He shall be 
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, — his leaf also 
shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." 
Yea, I say unto thee, in the fear and dread of the majesty 
of heaven, that if thou wilt give up in these things to fol- 
low the Captain of thy salvation, He will lead thee into 
the green pastures of life, and cause thee to lie down beside 
the still waters thereof, where nothing can hurt thee or 
make thee afraid. And not only so, but He will teach thee 
wondrous things out of His law, which He will daily Avrite 
in thy heart, and cause thee to joy in the Lord, and rejoice 

in the God of thy salvation 

7 



74 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1830, 



From T. B. (i. to 



NbWPOBT, 23d of 11th month, 183G. 

My DEAB Friend : 

I have thought so much of thee lately, in connection 
with the events of this eventful day, that I concluded to 
let thee hear from one whom, Among thy many friends, I 
suppose thou hast nearly forgotten, though I hope my 
name remains on the list. 

I have called this an eventful day, and I think I have 
not misapplied the term, even if it should be confined to 
the comparatively narrow limits of our own borders; for I 
think there have not, within the time we have been a people, 
such occurrences taken place amongst us as at the present. 
When I look at the almost unparalleled sufferings which 
our worthy predecessors underwent, after that long and 
dark night of apostasy (emphatically so to thousands and 
tens of thousands who were waiting for the consolation of 
Israel, and panting after the true bread and water of life), 
in publishing the glad tidings of the everlasting Gospel in 
its primitive purity, and seeking the sheep who were scat- 
tered upon the barren mountains of an empty profession, 
and the desolate hills of lifeless forms and ceremonies, and 
not only seeking them but finding them and gathering them 
out from amongst the various ceremonial worships into the 
true sheepfold, where the true Shepherd was known and 
felt, feeding His ilocks, and making them to rest as at 
noon in the green pastures of life, and beside the still 
waters thereof, where nothing could hurt them or make 
them afraid ; I say, when I consider their almost unparal- 
leled sufferings, their unfeigned faith, their matchless love, 
their truly Christian spirit, and harmless demeanor among 
men. I am almost disposed to envy them their happiie 
even amidst all their Bufferings; for they gave unquestion- 
able evidence that they were the people the Lord had 
formed for himself, by their showing forth his praise in a 
manner not equalled since the primitive church 



L837.] XHOMAfl !'•. ffOULD. TS 

To Pklbg Mitchell, 

1st month, 20th, 1837. 
My dbab Friend : 

[After relating many circumstances connected with the 
apostasy of Elisha Bates, he Bays] : 

1 thought 1 could not close this, notwithstanding the 
length to which it has already been carried, without alluding 
to h communication made by E. B. in our yearly meeting, 
either the first or second tome he attended it, I am not 

tain which. If thou attended that year, I have no 
doubt thou wilt recollect it ; if not, it may not be alto- 
gether void of interest ; to say nothing about the evidence 
which, I apprehend, is contained therein, of the truth of 
our primitive and precious doctrine of divine, immediate 
revelation, and the unfolding of the light of Christ to His 
humble, devoted children and servants. Such I believe 
he then was, notwithstanding his awful fall and apostasy 
since: like as Judas by transgression fell from his ministry 
and apostleship, though he had received power over " un- 
clean spirits, to cast them out," in common with the rest 
of the apostles. Luke 9:1,2. 

Elisha had been engaged in a weighty testimony, in 
which he adverted to the Hicksite separation, to the 
ravages which that desolating spirit had made in the other 
yearly meetings ; and spoke in a deeply touching manner 
of our having been hitherto in a great degree preserved : 
but in an awfully solemn manner he warned those present 
to stand upon the watch, for the enemy was within our 
borders ; that he was nearer many of us than we were 
aware of; that he was seeking to deceive those in one way, 
whom he could not destroy in another ; that he would 
transform himself into an angel of light, in short, that he 
had done so; that we should not escape a sifting ; that 
there were those then present, and standing in the most 
conspicuous stations in society, who, if it should now be 
told them the evil they would do unto the Lord's people, 
in the latter days, would say with Hazael, the Syrian: 
u Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?" I 
well remember the power and unction attending this com- 



76 LIFB AND LETTERS OF [1837. 

munication, at least to my understanding. It made a deep 
impression upon me, which is nol yet effaced, and was suffi- 
cient at the time to beget faith in my mind that it would 
be even so; although 1 had not the least idea then, that it 
wonld ever apply to him. 

I have so nearly filled my paper with what has u come 
to uiv knowledge," that I have little room left for "what 
has been "parsing in my owii mind/ 1 in relation to these 
things* However, 1 have this general remark to make, 
and with it I shall conclude: that, in my belief, this spirit 
of opposition, which is now developing in many places (for 
it is not local), against those intrepid advocates for truth, 
the truth itself, and the principles of truth, is the same, 
in the root and ground of it, with that which, when " the 
truth first broke forth" after the long night of apostasy, 
persecuted those who bore testimony to it, even unto 
death ; that it has only changed the mode of its operation 
in such a manner as to entrap many, who, if it had ap- 
peared under its old garb, would peradventure have seen 
it, and, it may be, escaped the snare. For truly Ci in vain 
18 the snare laid in the sight of any bird."' In a measure 
of that love which is sensibly felt to flow in an especial 
manner towards those "who are of the household of 
faith," I subscribe myself thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



From Thomas B. Gould to 



Newport, 11th of 2d mo., 1837. 

Beloved Friend: 

Prom the time thou appeared in our preparative meet- 
ing to the present, the subject of thy request and desire 
to be admitted a member of our religious Society has very 
frequently been weightily With me. I have felt my mind 
introduced into lively exercise on thy account, and on 
account of the very precious, and important, and peculiar 
testimonies given us as a people to hear. But within the 
last day or two. it has increased; and become so burden- 

some that it has appeared to me I could not safely, either 
to myself or to thee, carry it much longer. I have thought 



;7.] THOMAS !•• OOULDi 77 

king an opportunity with thee; but as this baa not 
n practicable, I have believed it to be right in this way 
briefly to advert to some things of va>t importance to thy- 
self, to the Church, and to those among whom thou art 
conversant. 

To be a member of our religious Society, and thus pub- 
licly profess the holy name of Christ our Lord, invol 
an awful responsibility, inasmuch as we make a higher and 
more holy profession than any other people whatever, in 
divers very important particulars, some of which I shall 
name. And as thy ease has engaged my attention to-day, 

that solemn query put by our blessed Lord to the mother 

of Zebedee's children and to them, on that deeply interest- 

occasion, when she requested of Him for them, that 
they might sit the one on J Lis right hand and the other 
On His left in His kingdom, has been weightily and 
constantly with me: "Are ye able to drink of the cup 
that 1 drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that 
I am baptized with ':" Now, my beloved friend, although 
the Society of Friends have ever declined the use of out- 
ward forms and ceremonies, and of water-baptism, yet 
they have ever as strongly asserted and as firmly believed 
that it is by baptism, and by that alone, that any can be 
joined unto the Lord, so as to become of one spirit with 
His people, or in other words, true and living members of 
His Church : that it is necessary for us that we should be 
••buried with Him by baptism into death" to sin, " that 
like as He was raised from the dead by the power of the 
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life," 
having "put off the old man with his deeds, and crucified 
the flesh, with the affections and lusts, and put on the new- 
man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and 
true holiness." 

As this is a subject which is most intimately connected 
with life and salvation, it cannot do either of us any harm 
most seriously to consider what we have known of this 
great and important work to be begun and carried on in 
our hearts, by i; the faith of the operation of God," who 
will work in us both " to will and to do of His own good 
pleasure," and unmerited mercy ; and who hath graciously 

7*' 



78 LIFE AM> LBTTSBS OF [IS: 1 ,;. 

declared: "Behold I stand at the door and knock : if any 

• 

man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and 
mi]) with him, and he shall sup with me." By thus sub- 
mitting thyself unto Him, and turning at His reproof-. 
even al the "reproofs of instruction, which are the way of 
Life," thou wilt find thyself quickened and renewed in 
the spirit of thy mind, from time to time; for it is written 
that "the first man Adam was made a living soul," but 
the second Adam is the Lord from heaven, "a quickening 
spirit." This is Be who is the Judge both of the quick 

and dead, those that are dead in trespasses ami Bins, and 
those who have been made truly alive unto Him by an 

attention and submission to that Word of eternal life, 
which wakes the dead, and causes even those that are in 
the graves to oome forth unto the resurrection of life — even 
He who 18 the resurrection and the life. "I am the 
resurrection and the life," saith Christ, "he that believ- 
eth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and he 
that liveth and helieveth on me shall never die." " And 

you," saith the apostle, u hath he quickened) who were 

dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye 
walked, according to the course of this world, according 

to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now 

worketh in the children of disobedience. But God, who 
is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith he loved lis 

even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us to- 
gether witli Christ : (by grace ye are saved.)'' Ephesians, 
- • i j -• *j ti« 

Now if thou hast in truth known something of this work 
begun in thy heart, thou must have been made sensible 

that it is impossible for thee to be kept alive, except thou 

receive day by day thy daily bread. It is as impossible 
for the soul to live without food of a nature or quality 

corresponding to its own high destinies, as it is for the 

body to subsist without its proper food. ** Except ye eat 

the flesh and drink the blooa of the Son of man, ye have 
no life in you." These were pronounced by some formerly 
to he hard sayings: they exclaimed, "who can hear 

them," ami it is recorded that from that time some went 
hack from Him, and walked no more with him. l>ut 



7. ] THOM kS ! LD. 7: 



turning to 11 is IU ipl j, II- laid anto them, "Will 

( )nc of them replied, M Lord, to n 
shall the words of eternal lif And 

again, it was declared, that a man should DOl ** live by 

bread alone, bat by every word that proceedetb out of 
the month of God. 91 With regard toothers, it was posi- 
tively asserted that they were even "made dean by the 
• 1 spoken onto them." 

This I apprehend thon wilt find to be the true Supper 

the Lord; for a> thou wilt observe, (and, I earnestly 

desire, mavst richly experience), it is made to depend 

npon hearing the words of Christ, upon opening onto Sim, 

when ho knocks by His Spirit at the door of thy heart, 
npon waiting for, and when favored to hear, listening, in 
>f the fleshly part, onto II i< voice, which 

that thou wilt come to a view <>f His oountenan 
which is comely, yea, wilt come to experience the lifting 
np the light of His countenance npon thee, and to taste of 

the rivers of unspeakahle pleasures which are at His right 
hand for evermore. This is indeed a being brought into 
•• His banqueting house." and here the banner of His 
love is spread over US, and we know and are sure that if 
Ave continue to walk in the light, as Christ is in the light, 
we have fellowship one with another, and that the blood 
of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all sin: yea, that our 
fellowship and communion is with the Father, and with 
the Son, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the high and 
advanced ground (however feebly advocated or set forth by 
me) which the Society of Friends have taken, and still as 
a people maintain: and this is the true ground of initia- 
tion among, or communion and fellowship with them: al- 
though it must be acknowledged that it is not maintained 
by many who are nominally in profession with us. 

With regard to our testimonies against war. slavery, 
ami all oaths, together with the giving and receiving of 
complimentary and flattering titles, and honors, falsely 
called, I have no doubt thou hast been convinced of their 
incompetency with the Gospel of Christ. But I want thou 
Bhouldst also be convinced of. and he willing (however 
much it may he in the cross) practically to keep to the use 



80 uri: and LETTERS of [1837; 

of the plain Scripture language, OB all occasions and in 
all companies, as well as simplicity of behavior and ap- 
parel. I think it will not be ami- jay that I never 
knew an inMance, where an individual prospered in the 
hot things, that balked his testimony in these things, or 

where that "covetousness which is idolatry" prevented 

him from the due and diligent attendance of meetings both 
for worship and discipline; those held on the middle of 
the week, as well as those on that day set apart for the pur- 

pose, by the common consent of those called Christians, 

the world over. 

But after all that has heen said, or that can he said or 
written, if thy mind is not convinced of and converted to 
a belief in the divine u Light of Christ within,'' — w> ;is 
God's gift for man's salvation," — which is our main dis- 
tinguishing point or principle, and, as William Pcnn said, 
in his preface to George Fox's Journal, u is as the root of 
the goodly tree of doctrines which grew or branched out 
from it," — it will be impossible for thee, or any other, to 
support those doctrines and testimonies ; the support of 
which, however, cost our Worthy and ever memorable pre- 
decessors in the pure truth of our God, everything that 
was near and dear in this life, and even life itself. But 
they counted it all as loss and dross, in comparison to the 
excellency of the knowledge of Christ, their dear Lord ; 
and esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
all the treasures of Egypt, they cheerfully relinquished 
their hold on the things of this life, even an unlawful hold 
on lawful things, that they might secure an incorruptible 
inheritance in the world to come. 

A- ;ill things that are reprovable are made manifest by 
the Light, and as whatsoever maketh manifest is Light, 
and, as John testified concerning Jlim who is the true 
Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, 
that the end and design was, "that all men through Him 
might be saved :" so let me, in eouelusion, commend thee, 
in the language of an apostle, unto God and to the word 
of His grace (mark that), which is able to build thee up, 
and to give thee an inheritance among all them that are 
sanctified 

Thomas B. Gould. 



7.] THOMAS !:. GOULD. I 1 

To Pelbg Mitchell. 

irpoBT, Tth of 4th in"., ] 337. 

My dbab Friend : 

I fully unite with ill*-*" in the 

sentiment "that the signs of the times are awful," and 
with thy other expressions in connection therewith. Bui 
although it was foretold by the Lord's servants, the pro- 
phets (thou wilt not here understand it of those recorded 
in Scripture), lias it not come upon many u as a thief in 
the night '.'" It certainly lias found but a few compara- 
bly, — a little remnant, — watching. Still, I believe 
there will in great mercy he a remnant preserved, as the 
u two or three berries upon the top of the uppermost 
bough, tour <>r five upon the outermost fruitful branches 

thereof;" vet surely thev would seem to he as u the 
gleaning grapes that are left in it, or as the snaking of 
an olive tree.*' "At that day shall a man look to his 
Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One 
of Israel." [saiah IT : 6, 7. Oh, that it may be real- 
ized! I have no doubt this is the effect that it is designed 
to have upon us as a people, for has there not been a look- 
ing to " the altars, the work of men's hands ?" " But 

these strong cities have become as a forsaken bough." 

© * . 

k * Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, 

and hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy strength, 

therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it 

with strange slips. In the day shalt thou make thy plant 

to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to 

flourish ; but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of 

grief and of desperate sorrow." Ibid. 10, 11. 

I believe there has been an improper trust in man 

amongst us in the general, and in particular, a receiving 

what this great man or the other great man has said, or 

done, or written, without bringing things to the true 

© © < 

touchstone, the balance of the sanctuary, which the Lord 
Almighty has been pleased to place in every sincere mind. 
This would have placed a curb upon those who are as "the 
horse or the mule, who have need to be held in with bit and 
bridle;" and at the same time that it would have rendered 



B2 LOT and LBVPJERS ai [18 37. 

"tribute to whom tribqte was due, and custom to whom 
custom was due,' 1 it would have rendered "unto God 
the things that are God's :" who in all things wiU have 
the pre-eminence, and whose right it is to rule and reign, 
by virtue of His law pf love and life, which is written in 
the heart and placed in the mind. 

It seems to me sometimes, thai the blood of all the pro* 
phets will be required of this generation, who arc now act- 
ing <>vcr again [in a sense] the awful tragedy which whs 
performed upon those faithful "witnesses' 1 and "martyrs 

of JeSUS," who " counted not their lives dear, in order that 

they might finish the ministry which they had received of 
the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God*" 

Can we too frequently advert to them? Shall they ever 
be forgotten ? No ! " their memorial is on high." 'Mhey 
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, 
and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for- 
ever and ever." " The righteous shall be had in everlast- 
ing remembrance, hut the name of the wicked shall rot." 
" Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a 
noise like the noise of the seas, and to the rushing of 
nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty 
waters." "And behold at evening-tide trouble, and before 
the morning he is not ; this is the portion of them that 
>)><>i] US, and the lot of them that rob us." 

I verily believe it is applicable in both its parts : " In- 
asmuch as ye did it (or did it not), to one of the least of 
these, ye did it (or did it not) to me;" for it is an assured 
truth, that the Lord accounteth that which is done unto 
His members, as done unto Himself; aside from the hurt 
done unto the great cause of truth and righteousness in 
the earth. 

Thy assured friend, 
Thomas 1>. (Iould. 



To PELKG Mitchell. 

Newport, 1st of 8th montfe, 1837. 
Mi dbab Friend : 

1 can truly say that I have thought much of 



7. ] TttOMAS B. GOULD. 

thee in the time, no! only on account of thai mutual bond 
of union rod fellowship which subsists between us, bul in 
relation to that change which 1 Btippose has taken place 
in thy situation, since 1 last communicated with th< 
Although I am not in p( n of experimental know ledge 

en the Bubject, 1 may peradvfenttire be allowed theexpri 
sion of a sentiment. I have ever entertained, I believe, an 
exalted Bense oi' the propriety of that step, as well as its 

importance, and have frequently recurred to those instaip 

we have on record, Where the parties were led and guided 

therein by the good hand ami power of the Lord, and, 
when the consummation of their prospects arrived, had 
their testimony to hear (and this is a peculiar testimony) 
ttiat they were sensible of the Master's presence and power 

tompanying them and uniting them together. Oh! 
pre* xperionce and acknowledgment ! Jt often proved 

an earnest of future happiness in time, and a prelude to 
that which is eternal. I hope it lias been thy experience 
in the former, and that it may be in the latter. 

It is doubtless unnecessary to make any remark to thec 
on the subject ; but I have often thought that no less evi- 
dence of divine illumination and revelation was to be 
found in the distinguishing views of Friends on the subject 
of marriage, than in any other point on which we differ 
from other people. It might almost amount to a proof of 
it (seeing we reason in these days as well as walk back- 
wards), to consider that it is becoming, according to my 
sense and observation, of less and less concern with the 
generality under our name, to violate it. Witness the 
number of children, who either speak half Jew and half 
Ashdod, or pure Ashdod — I might rather have said, im- 
pure. 

I fully unite with thee in sentiment on the subjects re- 
ferred to in thy letter, and assuredly believe that multi- 
tudes of our members are laboring under a sad delusion 
with regard to the subject of slavery (or more properly, 
the abolition of it), and which, while it professes to exalt 
that testimony, is sapping the very foundation on which it 
rests, and weakening their attachment to, and crippling 
them in the support of, others not less important; 



84 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1837. 

[same letter, later date.] 

.... There is, indeed, a diversity of gifts and talents, 
as will a- different degrees of growth and experience; but 
whereonto we have already attained, as we have all walked 
by the same rule and minded the same thing, a uniformity 
of faith and principle must of course be the effect. Was 
this ever so beautifully exemplified as among our primitive 
Friends? Shall we ever see it bo exemplified again? 
Alas! I fear we Bhall not. When I happen to expr< 
nidi a sentiment, 1 am told, not to despair; but I cannot 
help it, I have despaired of it long since. Indeed, Peleg, 
niv faith is at a low ebb: if others are not better off than 
we are, here on Rhode Island, there is certainly a cause 
for it. I sometimes express such a sentiment to some who 

Ought to be judges ; they Bay they are not in a better con- 
dition than ^e are. Indeed the most alarming feature in 
my view is, that BO many are saying "we are rich and full, 
increased with goods, and have need of nothing," when 
they are poor, and blind, ami naked, and have need of 
everything, — or of that in which all good things are in- 
cluded. 

With regard t<> the prominent difficulties in Society, I 
hear but little Said about them. Jt seems to me, however, 
that even BOme of the upright-hearted are in some measure 
deceived, BUpposing that the danger is over on that score 
from which truth'- testimonies have of late suffered so 
severely. I may acknowledge myself of a different judg- 
ment J for although there are signs, on the part of some, 
of a willingness to sign a truce, yet I am well satisfied that 
true repentance ami conviction have not had their perfect 

work. The Btate of things, as I view them, seems to be 

this: that there has been, and now is (for, in comparison 
with the defection ami departure from the principles and 

testimonies of the Society, very few have been disowned 
by it), a large number of individuals, who stand in mem- 
bership in the Society, many of them in high Stations, 
ministers, elders, &C«, who either never understood the 
principles i'^v the support of which we were originally 
gathered to be a separate and distinct body, or, having 



7.] ma- i u>. 

1 a literal, book-know) f them Into the brain, 

have adopl much of then rould promote them 

offices and confer power upon them; or er sort, who, 

baying convinced of and converted to the truth, in 

former and better days, and grown up into a good i 
of its heavenly virtue and power, bo as to be decked and 

ith the Lord's heavenly jewels and gift* 

want of abiding in the simplicity of Little children, and in 

[> humility and dependence upon the Lord, the Giver 

good and perfect gift, bave become puffed up and 

Jted above the pure witness in themselves, have taken 

the Lord's jewels and made merry over them, and then, by 

a further delusion and snare of the grand adversary, have 
:i tempted to deny the testimony of His "faithful and 

true witness," until by the continual grieving and despite 

done unto it, they have for the present slain it, and their 
"hoU8< it unto them desolate," "given over to a 

( delusion, even to W'lieve a lie." Of such as tin 

nothing less can he expected, hut that they will persecute 

u the woman," ami the k * remnant of her seed," as they are 

oing. But I confess I do not so much fear the con- 

Bequences of this kind of trial, as I do that of the other class 

first mentioned ; who, though they have " secretly joined 

themselves to the broken army of Magog" (see Edward BllT- 
rough'a works), and have all along been in league with him, 
now, for political reasons, are very willing to have it 
appear they are very good Quakers, "saying they are 
Jews, and are not," hut are of that synagogue from which 
the floods of opposition come. These, since they have 
failed to undermine the Society, I am firm in the belief, 
are now trying another scheme, and by smooth words and 
fair speeches, are deceiving the hearts of the simple; they 
are very willing to pass for sound, and, as much as in 
them lies, to use sound words, — to build the sepulchres of 
the prophets. Indeed, to use the words of one of the pro- 
phets (I. Penington), their structure now is " built in imi- 
tation of Zion, painted just like Zion," and looks like 
Zion ; but it is only in appearance; although there is 
much art in setting it forth as can be imagined, and the 
paint is very skilfully laid on, yet in secret, the simplicity 

8 



LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1837. 

and purity of the truth, the straitncss of the gate, and the 
narrowness of tlje way, arc despised and condemned. 

I <lo not know how ir may appear to thee ; but I am not 
satisfied with the manner in which the Englishman now 
travelling in this country has got along. He has now such 
a load of hooks on his back, as I should be rery unwilling 
to carry: some of diem containing anything hut Quaker* 
ism, others with just enough that "looks like it," to give 
thrni a pass, and cause them to do fourfold more harm. 
When he left his home, he had but just deserted the ranks 
of ** P>eaconism," and ceased openly to oppose the " little 
ones." (A friend in our neighborhood, who has seen him 
at his house, can testify.) How it is possible he should be 
cleansed of his leprosy so quick, I am at a loss to deter- 
mine. I think at least he should have been " kept without 
the camp seven days." And as there is so much proof of 
the "plague" being in the very "waliV of his " house," 
it would have been more satisfactory to me, if there had 
been some evidence that it had been pulled down to the 
very ground, and rebuilt upon a better foundation, a new 
foundation, the Foundation "laid in Zion." Then, I am 
satisfied that the first work he would have found to do, 
would have been to unsay a great deal that he has said, 
and to contradict a great deal that he has written. I ex- 
pressed sentiments something like this to our mutually 
dear friend John Wilbur; and in the course of the conver- 
sation he said, that he had asked a friend if the Lord's 
mountain and the mount of Esau were so near together 
that men could pass from one to the other at a single 
leap 

I am aware that there is much said now against judg- 
ing} the labors of those who have been tinctured with the 
new views have been from the first directed against it: 
they introduced cautions against it into the Epistles of the 
yearly meeting : no man was to be judged for his unsound- 
ness, nothing musl be thought, much less said, about it. 
Well, was not this a snare of the crafty fowler? Hid it 

not answer the end completely? All mouths closed, every 

lip silent, and every tongue dumb, while they were carry- 
ing on their warfare unmolested, and even turning those 



1837.] MOM kfi i M>. -7 

institutions which were ordained and sel up for i defei 
round about the city, into engines of destruction to it ! 
which have been sent back and forth, betwi 
ly meeting and that of London, are a witn< 
to the truth of this remark : I mean for several years lasl 
past. Is no1 the language applicable: "Judgment is 
turned away backward, truth lias fallen in the streets, and 

lity cannot enter V* And did not all those who wferfc 

favored to have their eyes open, see in these things a clear 

nd legitimate fruit of that spirit "which genders 

ondage;" which has brought and is still bringing iriiny 
back again under that grievous and cruel yoke of bond* 
which was laid upon the nations by the hard task-mast<r, 
in the night of darkness, and in the time of apostasy from 
the light, spirit and power of Christ, even many who had 
known some good degree of deliverance from it? — which 
light, spirit, and power, those sons of the morning of the 

spel day, after the long night of darkness and apostasy; 
were so preciously instrumental and so eminently success- 
ful in proclaiming, and gathering the people into, so that 
the language began to be fulfilled, — the language of pro- 
phecy, % * It shall come to pass in the last days, that the 
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the 
top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills (of an 
empty profession); and many people shall go and say, 

no and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to 
the house of the God of Jacob, for He will teach us of His 
ways, and we will walk in His paths : for out of Zion shall 
go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusa- 
lem." And "He shall judge among the nations," &c. 
" In this mountain shall the Lord make unto all people a 
feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow r , of wines 
on the lees well refined ; and shall destroy the face of the 
covering which is spread over all people, and the veil that 
is over the nations." Now I am abundantly satisfied that 
the true believers in Christ, the Light, are established on 
this holy mountain, and that to all that are in this holy 
hill, He that reigneth King in Zion will give a spirit of 
judgment. "I will be a spirit of judgment to them that 
sit in judgment," &c. "He that is spiritual judgeth all 



68 LIIH AND LETTERS OF [1837. 

thin u And upon all the glory there shall be a de- 

fence." How should any be able to defend those glorious 
bimonies which arise out of that law which goeth forth 
of Zion, and arc required by that Word from Jerusalem, 

unless they had power to judge that which seeks to subvert 
them '." 

In short, my dear friend, I unite with thee in the senti- 
ment, that we are to keep our ranks in that "city whose 
Avails are salvation, and whose gates are praise " ? (very 
clear and comprehensive, in my view, is the doctrine and 
instruction contained in this description); and not by any 
means to suffer "the strength and concern ordained to flow 
through us as a people," to be mixed with the "water"' 
(•* their gold and their silver is cankered and their wine 
mixed with water") which remains in those that " are 
without." However we may rejoice in those tilings in 
which they may appear to be nearing us (by the way, I 
greatly fear we are nearing them, much faster than they 
are coming towards and embracing the Truth), we ought 
not in the least to incur the danger of diminishing or ob- 
souring the light of that 4 * city which is set on a hill," and 
which, if we were faithful, "could not be hid." 

Thy assured friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



TIh>M I M». 



(MIAPTER II. 



In the oowse of the visit of Joseph John Gnrney to the 
United 5 — a visit sorrowfully disastrous to the Society 

i this land — be attended the Yearly Meeting 
■ ( England, held at NeWpQlt, in 1838* Thomas P>. 

ild had by this time become familiar with some of his 
writings, and in common with a large number of other 
Friends of that yearly meeting, as well as in other parts 
Of the land, was clearly convinced that his published sen- 
timents were calculated to produce a departure from the 
ancient standard of our Christian profession — that he was 
unsound in many points of doctrine which our forefathers 
in the truth held most dear, — and that there was extreme 
danger, from the influence of his position, his wealth, his 
id activity, and his reputation, truly or falsely esti- 
mated, for benevolence, learning, and eloquence, that large 
multitudes would be turned aside from the simplicity and 
spirituality of our true and ancient faith. On this occa- 

i therefore, when some of those who had obtained the 
pre-eminence in that yearly meeting, were urging the 
claims of J. J. Gurncy to implicit acceptance, and be- 
guiling the minds of many honestly disposed, but more or 
superficial members, who placed undue confidence in 
eminent men, Thomas B. Gould felt it to be his religious 
duty plainly to bear his testimony, as way opened for it, 
against the erroneous doctrines of this voluminous author, 
and to show the reasons of his disunity with them. This 
attracted the attention, of course, of the individual thus 
testified against, as well as of those whose efforts were 
directed to promote his cause ; and from that time Thomas 

8* 



90 LIFE AND DETTBBfl OP [1838. 

was marked and watched, as in their opinion pertinaciously 
endeavoring to obstruct their coarse, and as a person dis- 
affected and dangerous to their favorite scheme of bringing 

er the whole Society to the views and practice- of Joseph 
John Gurney and others like him in England, where the 
1 bo widely sown in his numerous and unchecked publi- 
cations, had taken root in the hearts of very many of the 
members, and Bprung up to the covering of that '-nee 
beautiful garden of the Lord with the noxious weeds of 
superficial and carnally-minded profession. 

Joseph John Gurney soon took an opportunity of calling 
;ii Henry Gould's residence, and Thomas candidly opened 
to him his uneasiness, but without receiving any satisfac- 
tion from him. This interview — in which Thomas plainly 
charged him with promulgating unsound doctrines, and 
exhorted him to disavow and condemn them, and also ex- 
pressed to him his dissatisfaction with his ministry — ending 
as it did in no concession on the part of J. J. Gurney — 
T. I>. Gould considered himself not only clearly at liberty, 
hut hound by his sense of duty, to speak of it openly, and 
to warn his fellow-iuemhers of the disastrous results likely 
to follow to the Society from the popularity of this unsound 
author. As a con>e<(uonce of his faithfulness herein, he 
was, in common with his friend and fellow-testimony-hearer, 
John Wilbur, made the object of a long-continued persecu- 
tion, ^>y those who scrupled not to pervert the discipline 
of the Society to their unholy purposes. Yet no cause 
could he found against him. except concerning the law of 
his God. Efforts were even made to spread an idea that 
his mental powers were impaired, and many were the vitu- 
perations Cast upon his character, particularly after the 
interview above-mentioned. Much talk and misrepresenta- 
tion having been made ahout it. he Wrote the following 

notes of the occurrence, ami Bent copies to some of his 

intimate friends, in order that his fellow-memhers might 
have a correct Version of what transpired on that occasion. 

NOTES or x. B. G.'S [NTBRVIEW WITH J. J. GHTRNJfcY. 

Between the hour.- of live and six on the afternoon of 



8.] THoMAS ; :.i». 

L6tl th month, 1" 

rney and Bcnry 1! died at my father's hoi 

►mas 1>. BuiTuni h them. Thomas I 

My parei also in the 

>m : when the follow 

ral remark- made by him • and he f 
very much • Ik , 1 took my Beat by hi 

"I sup] §e hast heard that I 1 id a 

the unsound thy writ- 

portunity to acknowledge th 
have done bo, and to convince thee that I am not disp 
keep it b He interrupted me by 

I. I did not come here on that 
at all. 1 only love for thee 

and for the fami " i 

tin our a ged prii 

and testimonies. I ugly die iedwith them. 

> .. wilt thou ack lire that ther - in 

them, and by bo doing, remove the obstructions to thy 

list in my mind, out of the He re- 

plied, "All that I have to say to thee, my dear friend, is, 
that I have nothing - y on the Bubject of my writii 
] do i aider it to be my present business; I am here 

another concern, and my mind is very much exerci 
with it." I replied. % * The minds of Friends in this conn- 
try arc very un< relation to much which thou hast 
written — as well a£ If — and it is a very serious ob- 
uction to thy work and service. It is impossible that it 
uld accoi! the pr( I object, or reach the same 
end. until tin are removed : and if thou wilt 
acknowledge that there is unsoundness in them, and bo 
remove the offence out of the way, I believe there are 
those who would receive thee with open an He 
plied. ".My dear. I feel a great deal of love for thee, and 
I did when thou spoke in meeting the other day. I ad- 
mire thy candor and uprightness, but I must decline en- 
tering upon the subject of my writings: they are \ 
ex1 ad all I have t<> - is, that it ; 

my business, and. to tell thee the truth. I do not con- 
■r it to be thine.'' I answered, ** 'It' thou br thy 



92 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1838. 

gift to the altar, and there remembcrest that thy brother 
hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the 
altar, first go and be reconciled to thy brother, then come 
and offer thy gift. 1 His I believe ifl a doctrine of Scrip- 
ture ; thou makest great professions of regard for the 
Scriptures, and st them above the mark at which 

Friends have ever held them ; now thou ought to conform 
to this precept, and deny or condemn such parts of thy 
writings as have erven so much uneasiness to me and a 
multitude of other Friends ; by so doing thy path would 
be rendered more easy, and the minds of Friends would be 
relieved. I do consider that it is thy duty to satisfy both 
me and them." lie again made large professions of love 
for me, put one arm around me, and laid the other hand 
upon my knee, in a very plausible and seemingly affec- 
tionate manner, saying, " All I can say is, to recommend 
thee to the Master, to whom thou must leave me, simply 
doing what He requires of thee; and raayest thou more 
and more come under the very power of the Lord's Spirit, 
with which I believe thou art acquainted. Keep in the 
quiet, dear Thomas, simply doing what lie requires of 
thee." (lie did make some further remarks here, by way 
of preaching to a very small extent, which, however, I do 
not remember.) I replied, "It has been required of me 
to do what I have done; my mind has been very deeply 
exercised on the subject of the unsound doctrines promul- 
gated and propagated by thy books amongst us; it has 
deprived me of much sleep, and even affected my health; — 
but," I said, wi 1 am not aware that my mind has been im- 
paired," — appealing to my two intimate and dear friends, 
T. P. X. and T. 15. B., to know whether they had dis- 
covered that any distraction or derangement of mind had 
taken place, remarking, ** they both know me well ; we are 
frequently together, and converse on these subjects." T. 
I\ X. said that he believed I was "of perfectly sound 
mind." with emphasis. T. B. B. sat silent, with his hat 
drawn down over his eves. He evidently was unwilling to 
take any part in the matter between us, although he had 
previously conversed freely and frequently with me upon 
the subject of my concern with J, J. (J. : such is the perni- 



3, ] THOMAS B. GOULD. 

which greal names and popular applai 
upon oven honest hearts. 

I then appealed to J, J. <>. again in an affectionate 
manner, as he had it in his power to relieve me from this 

ighl and burden, to do bo, and thus take the ground of 
offence against him away; at the Bame time remarking that 
if he would do bo, I should be able to inform friends who 
felt tin* Bame uneasiness with myself, that he had con- 
demned whatever was in his books contrary to our ac- 
knowledged principles and testimonies, and thus open his 
way with them, where I assured him it was now entirely 

closed. He utterly refused, again and again, to enter into 

any discussion, as he chose to call it. upon the soundness 

of his writings, or to acknowledge they were unsound; 
hut said nothing about his certificates, or his having been 

well received by some friends. He never alluded to it at 
all. I replied: u Iwish no discussion, I have asked for 
no such thing, hut only for thee to condemn such parts of 
them as are contrary to our acknowledged principles, and 
have given friends so much uneasiness." He manifested 
great uneasiness at this time, and said something about 
humility, which I do not distinctly remember, and again 
refused to make any the least concession. 

After a short pause, I found my mind engaged to tes- 
tify against his ministry, which I did in the following 
manner : "I must say to thee, that I am not satisfied with 
thy manner of preaching : thou puttest the cart before the 
horse; thou lahorest to induce a belief in the doctrines 
ified of in the Scriptures, by the mere force of reason 
and argument, and the bare reading or hearing of them; 
and then spcakest of the gift of the Spirit as a conse- 
quence of that belief or acceptance. This is contrary to 
that Scripture doctrine, ' as no man knoweth the things of 
a man save the spirit of man which is in him, even so no 
man knoweth the things of God but the Spirit of God.' 
Now," said I, "it was because of the absolute necessity 
there was and is for men and women to come to this 
Spirit, to have their understandings opened and their 
hearts quickened by its power, that our ancient friends 
labored to exalt the testimony to the true Teacher, and to 
bring them under its power and teaching ; and they well 



94 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1838. 

knew that when people come to this ground and founda- 
tion, there la no danger of their undervaluing the Scrip- 
tures, for it is impo ; the manii ion of the Spirit 
now will not contradict the revelation of the same Spirit 

in days that arc past. They know it, and 1 know it. 

But thou, instead of laboring to bring the minds of the 
people to the true Teacher, who promised to teach I lis 

people Himself those groat doctrines and fundamental 

truths of the Gospel, and bringing in the Scriptures, ae 
collateral evidence of, and testimony to the truth of them, 
goest about to persuade people to accept them in 'simple 
faith, 1 or to convince them merely by thy own powers of 
reasoning and argument, and boldest forth that the gift of 
the Spirit is consequent upon that kind of belief or accep- 
tance. Now this is contrary to the principles of truth as 
professed by Friends." He did not attempt to deny that 
this was true, and said, "I am satisfied of thy sincerity 
and faithfulness, and am willing to be further instructed 
as a Christian should be." 

Here some of the family remarked thai Moses II. P>ecde 
was at the door ; and Jonathan Nichols (who had just step- 
ped up) inquired if I was willing he should come in ; where- 
upon I invited them both in. J. J. G. had risen up and 
put on his hat in the interim, and seemed exceedingly un- 
willing that anything further should be said. Thus I was 
prevented from fully relieving my mind, as it related to 
him. But I did say to J. J. G., "As thou hast refused 
to give me any satisfaction, I want thee distinctly to un- 
derstand that I shall consider myself at liberty to speak 
against thy writings, at such times and in such manner as 
I shall think proper, — and with thy understanding it to be 
so, thou must leave me thus at liberty." He said, " I do 
not give thee liberty, but leave thee to the Master, who is 
able to keep Ufl both." I told him that it A\as contrary to 
common sense and reason, that he should bo at liberty to 

write and publish what he pleased against the Truth, and 

1 Bhould be denied the liberty and exercise of my con- 
Bcience, in bearing my testimony against and exposing the 

unsoundness of his writings, while he was travelling amongst 

us and refused to condemn them. 1 had previously told 
him that my objection! to his writings were not of recent 



THOMAS r.. GOULD, 

date, thai I had been familiar with them from my child- 

and li:i*l had unity with the Srsl edition of his " I 
ligions Peculiarities" (with some small exception), which 
had interested me in what came from his pen, and led to 
the reading of it ; and the time had been when I Bincerely 
wished he might be sent over to this country; bul long 
before he came, my feelings had been changed, and now I 
had cause to regret it exceedingly. He Baid, "that he 
had heard me patiently, and that he felt great love for 
It was evident, however, that he was not willing to 

hear me, ;md that it gave him much uneasiness. 

When the subject was first opened, he seemed dispo 

light of it, and laugh it off. After discovering 

that this would not discourage or prevent me from ]>r< 
CUting the concern, lie attempted to drown it by large and 
gratuitous professions of love and good will lor me. Find- 
ing that plan would not work, and especially while I was 
enforcing the obligation he was under, to leave his gift at 
the altar until he was reconciled to his brethren, I must 
say that he seemed somewhat affected by it ; at any rate, 
he was more silent, and apparently sensible that it was just. 
I have read the above notes to T. B. B. and T. P. N. ; 
they both acknowledge them to be substantially correct. 
I took them down immediately after the interview, and 
where they are marked as quotations, I am satisfied the 
Ian. is given as it was used. I am willing to 

acknowledge that Joseph John did not say much. What 
he did Bay (as will be seen) was, with two or three excep- 
tions, a repetition of the determination at first expressed, 
or of his professions of love for me. This may account 
for my so repeatedly insisting upon his condemning the 
unsound and offensive parts of his writings. If he had 
called for it, I could readily have referred him to such 
parts as arc so diametrically opposed to our acknowledged 
principles, as they stand recorded in our approved and 
standard works, that "he who runs may read" and under- 
stand the difference. As for T. B. B.'s silence when I 
appealed to him, he has since said to me that he con- 
sidered it altogether unnecessary to make such an appeal 
(he was not aware however of the reason why I made it), 
and that he should be willing to bear testimony to his 



96 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [l v 

full conviction of my entire sanity to J. J. G., should an 
opportunity offer. Thomas B. Gould. 

Newport, ! m<>.. Lg 

From T. B* Gould to J. and E. Nichols. 

ompanying a copy of the Notea ofhia Interview 
•with J. J. Gurney.] 

Newport, 29th of 6th month, 181 

My dear Friends, J. and E. Nichols : 

Indubitably satisfied and convinced I am, that the very 
tendency of this man's labors is to make us a will-worship- 
ping people ; and although he does not now acknowledge it 

in words, vet it is verv evident that he dreams, that Jerusa- 
lem, the holy city, whither the tribes go up to the testimony 
of Israel, the city which the Lord hath chosen, to place 
J lis name there, to manifest His power there, is too far 
off; — and those, who arc concerned to yield obedience to 
the divine commandment, w * Thou shalt not offer thy burnt- 
offerings nor thy sacrifices in every place that thon se< 
but in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, to 
Cause His name to dwell there, ,? are likely to maintain 
their allegiance to David their king, and to say, "Thine 
are we. David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse." Oh, 
that the eyes of the upright-hearted may be opened by 
the effectual application of the eye-salve of the Kingdom, 
whieh is inward and spiritual, — (the worship is spiritual, 
the offerings are spiritual, the temple and the altar are 
spiritual, and the worshippers are spiritual, such as wor- 
ship in spirit and in truth) — to see the mystery of iniquity; 
for truly, great is the mystery of iniquity, as well of god- 
liness. None can understand either the one or the other, 
but those, and those only, who have been taught by Him 
who is the alone sufficient Teacher of His people, who 
*• teacheth them to profit," and as no man ever spake or 
taught. He ^till continues to show to a little, poor, and 
despised remnant, the depths of Satan on the one hand, 
and on the other, the "unsearchable riches" (unsearch- 
able to the wise and prudent of this world, the letter- 
learned), which are in Himself, with whom are hid all the 
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Bu1 it is now. as it 



1888. ] THOMAS i:. GOULD. 97 

was formerly : " He is a Btone of stumbling and :i roci of 
offence' 1 to th< i high-professing, self-righteous Jews. u They 
stumble al that Btumbling-stone." A.nd to the worldly-wise 
Greeks (both characters are frequently united in the same 
subject) "foolishness." Bui to those who believe, to those 
who receive their gift of faith from Sim, who has been the 
object of the saints 1 faith in all ages of the world, the 
Author and Finisher of it, u Christ is the power of God 
and the wisdom of God." 

four afflicted, but not forsaken friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



ript] 

I do not believe the impressions he 

makes will last longer than the " veil which is spread over 
all nations" who have not come to the mountain of the 
Lord's house, to the house of the God of Jacob, where He 
teacheth them I lis ways, and they receive strength from 
Him to walk in His paths — remains upon them ; for it is 
in "this mountain'' that the face of the covering is re- 
moved, and the veil is destroyed. I was ready to add, in 
the renewed feeling and sense of its truth, "We have a 

>ng city : salvation hath God appointed for walls and 
for bulwarks:" for I have been, at times and seasons, 
comforted in the firm faith given unto me that the founda- 
tion stands sure — for faith remains to be an heavenly gift, 
the gift of God; and it still is the " substance of things 
hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." (Not 
J. J. Gurney's " simple faith — mere credence" which, he 
said, in his communication on fifth-day of yearly meeting, 
formed a fundamental link in the great chain of Christian 
doctrines.) " The foundation stands sure ;" and because 
He lives who is the Rock of ages, upon which the true 
Church is built (not upon the Scriptures), those who are 
prophesying in sackcloth shall live also ; and the storms 
and tempests, though they may beat vehemently, shall not 
be able to overthrow such. 

.... I should be glad to receive a letter from you ; 
and with the assurance of true love I conclude. If you 

9 



LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18 

are uneasy with any part <»f my conduct, be Bure to let me 
know of it. 

Thomas B. Gould. 



From T. B. G. to George F. Read. 

Newport, 4th of 7th mo., 1838. 
My dear Friend, G. F. Read: 

Baying understood by good authority that the fact of 
my having had an interview with J. J. Ghirney on the sub- 
ject of bis writings, Sec, has caused much remark in Pro- 
vidence, and subjected me to actual abuse from Borne indi- 
viduals (all which I sincerely wish may he mercifully for- 
given then), seeing they know not what they do), I thought 
it would be best for me to inclose thee a copy of the me- 
morandums I made, of what passed between us, in order 
that thou might know how far I am justly censured. 

Thou art aware that in the time of yearly meeting I 
made no scruple of expressing my objections to his printed 
books. I did consider I had as much right to do so, as 
he had to print and publish them. I am of the same 
judgment still. I know they are not Quakerism; I also 
know he is no Quaker, if lie holds the same sentiments, 
whatever else he may he. And the fact being proved that 
he will not condemn them, shows that he is still account- 
able for all that he has written. Friends might just as 
well have received thee into membership with thy Baptist 
notions, and licensed thee t<> remain and propagate them, 
as to suffer him to travel as a minister, with his Episcopa- 
lian principles; and much better, as thy influence would 
not have been anything near BO extensive. 

AlS to my right to express my concern to J. J. G., 
which I understand has been called in question, I am not 
at all afraid to Bay, that no one who understands the prin- 
ciples of Friends, and retains his integrity and allegiance 
to them, will hesitate for a moment to acknowledge it. 
However, I am not the first who has been judged and con- 
demned by false and envious brethren, lor doing that 
which was required of him. Joseph was hated by his 
brethren, when he told them his dreams, and carried 



3.] THOMAS i i-i'. 99 

"their evil report" to Jacob his rather. Mosee was 
inquired of by one of his brethren, in outward fellowship, 
no doubt, " Who made thee a prince and a judge oyer as f" 
And Eliab, Davids proud and envious eldest brother, 
whose "anger was kindled against him, 91 said to him, 
*• WIiv earnest thou down hither, and with whom hast 
thou lefil those few Bheep in the wilderness I I know thy 
pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart." 1 believe I 
may with propriety adopt the answer that David made, 
- What have I now done ?" — -and ** Is there not a cause ?" 

A man travelling as a minister, with certificates from 

monthly, quarterly, and select yearly meetings, the 

drawn in >uch a manner as to cover that essential 

part in which it is wanting (it does not say that he was 
liberated in the unity, but "after an expression of much 

unity"), and obtained contrary to the solid sense and 
judgment of the faithful, weighty, and sound part of the 
body in England; who has volumes of books in circula- 
tion which Friends in England and in this country Joint n 
were at the root of that declension from our principles, 
which lias shaken the Society there to its centre; which 
has carried so many back again into those things out of 
which our predecessors in the Truth were gathered by the 
immediate extension of the Lord's Eternal Arm of Power 
— Such a man, so travelling in this country, and the reputed 
** watchmen" on the Avails slumbering at their posts, or so 
overcome by that spirit which has spread far and wide in 
our Society in this land as well as in England (a dark, 
uncertain, unbelieving spirit), as not to be able to dis- 
tinguish between thing and thing, — really I did, and now 
do believe, there was a cause for me to bear my testimony 
against it, and so clear myself of the weight and burden 
laid upon me. 

But I do not think it strange that such as in their 
hearts and by their conduct, if they do not acknowledge 
it in words, deny the present continuance of Divine imme- 
diate Revelation, and its being still the " primary, ade- 
quate rule of faith and practice," and are setting up the 
Scriptures as such a rule, — as the "more sure word of 
prophecy," — should be disposed to call in question the 



100 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1838. 

propriety of sue]) an one ;is I am. meddling in this matter. 
Nothing less can be expected from such. If we rej< 
the principle that a measure and manifestation of Divine 
Light and Grace has been given to every man to profit 

withal : that this Light is that medium through and by 

whicb men and women arc shown what their duty is, and 
the maimer and time in which it is to be performed, ;i< 
well as qualified to perform it, — and if we Bet up the Scrip- 
tures in the place of this Light and Grace, — make them 
the foundation of all religion and morality. — say that 
human learning, outward information, is a necessary quali- 
fication in order to come to a right judgment in mat: 
relating to faith and worship, in things of a divine, spi- 
ritual, and heavenly nature, — then I believe- we shall find 
that we arc indeed dependent upon our fellow men, for 
authority to act in the Church, and that we have cast off 
our allegiance to the great Head of the Church, except so 
far as words go; — these may still be retained, for the 
enemy does not regard the use of words merely, he d 
not regard the bare assertion that Christ is the Head of 
the Church, that He is the President and Master of our 
assemblies^ — so long as he can rule in the will, — so long 
as he can virtually have the government. This he can 
manage to retain, where the Scriptures are the M primary 
rule," and while they are "interpreted like all other books, 
according to the common and intelligible rules of language, 
and not without a reference to innumerable facts and cir- 
cumstances which throw light on their meaning." Here 
IS ample room to shuffle about, and to evade their true 
meaning Not so with those who do not ac- 
knowledge them to be the ""primary rule," or the ^ulti- 
mate appeal," hut accord both terms to that source from 
whence they emanated. They are bound, by the same 

Spirit and power by whicb the Scriptures were given forth, 

and by which only they are truly opened and understood, 
or savingly, profitably, and comfortably applied to the 
heart, to yield obedience to the precepts, to obey the 

commandments recorded in them. These have the sancti- 
fied BSe of them, although they openly acknowledge that 



3. ) THOU IS B. QOI u>. 1 ( >1 

tli< inly a Becondary rule completely subordinate 

the Spirit. 

Thou art aware, my dear friend, thai it is no picture 
of the imagination, which has suddenly darted across my 

pans of vision; but that it is something which I have 
long seen and Pelt was coming upon us. My former letters 

knee will bear testimony to this fact. Yea, I have seen 

ami felt this spirit at work for years; many of my most 
intimate friends know it. I have seen it in that Light 
which never deceived me. When 1 say that it is a "dark, 
uncertain, unbelieving spirit/ 1 I know what I say. " For 

darkness hath covered tin 4 earth, and gross darkness the 
•pie," — " they grope for the wall, like the blind at noon- 
day :" and the reason is, ** they love darkness rather than 
it. because their deeds are evil." They are not 
willing to bring their deeds to the Light, lest they should 
hi 4 made manifest, — to the Light of Christ which shines in 
the heart, and makes a true discovery between thing and 
thing. There is no evading this swift witness, this faith- 
ful and true witness. But there is such a thing as resist- 
ing, until it ceases to strive ; for it is written, " my Spirit 
ill not always strive with man." It is for this reason 
that the natural, corrupt heart of man is constantly seek- 
ing out some easier way, is " climbing up some other way." 
But equally true and certain it is, that these are all 
* % thieves and robbers." "lam the door (into the true 
sheepfold), by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, 
and shall go in and out and find pasture." And the sheep 
of Christ hear his voice, and they follow Him; "and the 
voice of the stranger they will not follow, for they know 
not the voice of strangers." It is their distinguishing 
characteristic, that their Lord and Master, as their eyes 
are kept single unto Him, in the obedience of Faith, gives 
them a true discernment, a true judgment (for he is a 
" spirit of judgment to them that sit in judgment" rightly), 
between that which is really and truly of Him (whether 
passing in themselves, or appearing in others), and that 
which is not. Here is the real, substantial ground of 
judgment. Such as these are the humble whom the Lord 
teaches of his ways, and the meek whom he guides in the 

9* 



102 Lin: AND LBTTBE8 tff [18J 

paths of true judgment. There re much said now against 
judgment ; no man is to be judged for his iinsounane 
lei liim be ever so much bo; if he professes to believe in 
"the religion of the Bible/' with his lips and his tongue) 
it is all to be suffered and borne. It is said, he is an evan« 

lical friend, or a ** Bible < 'h ri-t ia 1 1. * ' The spirit of the 
age is against judgment — the spirit of the world is against 
it. — and both are very prevalent in our religious society; 
But I am satisfied that when judgment - to go forth, 

to be passed upon and Bet ovw wrong things amongst us, 
as R. Barclay said, "though one or more, few or many," 
We shall cease to he a true Church of Christ, though we 
may retain the bare name, and even glory in it. 

With regard to its being an "uncertain spirit," I appre- 
hend it might he easily proved to be so. And it cannot 
be sure, it cannot he eei'tain, when that main fundamental 
point 0T principle is denied or rejected, which William 
Penn said, was "as the root of the goodly tree of doc- 
trines, which grew or branched forth out of it," — that prin- 
ciple of divine immediate revelation, which enabled the 
disciples of our blessed Lord to see through and w * beyond 
the veil" of ilesh with which the eternal Word and Son of 

God was clothed or covered, in the days of his outward 

manifestation, to that which dwelt "within the veil."' No 
others could discover it, no others could acknowledge it 
then. No others could answer with certainty and assur- 
ance, when the question was asked, "Whom do men say 
that I, the Son of man, am?" There was a diversity of 
sentiments, a variety of conflicting opinions among men. 
Some guessed one thing, and some another: kk Some say 

thou art Elias, some John the Baptist, and some, one of 

the old prophets risen again." But when his immediate 
followers and disciples were asked, — those who had left all 
to follow Him. — to whom it was given to know the myste- 
ries of the kingdom, which is an inward and spiritual king- 
dom ; — when they were inquired of, "Whom do ye say 
that 1, the Son of num. am?" — they could answer with 

certainty, with full assurance of faith, "Thou art the 

Christ, the Son of the living <<od.'' For Simon Peter not 
only spoke for himself, hut for his fcllow-diseiplcs and be- 



18. | MOM Ml I I .i>. 

tfl the n many other occasions ; when 

thej • 11 addressed, one answered for all. Oh, the 

preoiousness of the dootrine and instruction contained in 
the blessing pronounced upon this confession of faith in 
I lini, who is Lord of all, Head over all things to his I Ihuroh 
an<l people, and not only bo, but the everlasting and Bore 
foundation lai<l in Zion, the Rock of Ages, the foundation 
upon which the Church is built* "Blessed art thou, 
Simon Barjonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it 
unto thee, but my Father, who is in heaven !" STes, 
"thou art Peter; and upon tins Efoek will 1 build my 
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. " 

Thou art aware that the Society of Friends lias ever pro- 

and believed, that the revelation of Christ in spirit, 
the foundation upon which the Church is built, upon 
which every member of it is established; and other foun- 
dation can no man lay than that which is laid, which IS, 
Christ Jesus. Thou art aware also that this principle is 
controverted in that book which 1 showed thee: a hook, 
which, if it was made public, I am satisfied would have a 
tendency to open the eyes of such amongst us as still 
retain their integrity and uprightness of heart; however it 
might be with those who are overcome by the "dark, un- 
certain, unbelieving spirit.'' These, it is probable, would 
not see, for the god of this world hath blinded the eyes of 
them that believe not ; and truly it is no less unbelief and 
infidelity, to deny Him as he is, the Lord from heaven, 
a quickening spirit, to deny the inward and spiritual ap- 
pearance of Christ in the heart, to deny the plain declara- 
tion made by Himself, "I will not leave you comfortless, 
I will come to you," — to make distinctions and separa- 
tions between the "three that bear record in heaven, 1 ' — 
which " three arc one," — to bring down the doctrine of the 
indwelling of Christ by his Spirit in the heart, to " simple 
faith — mere credence," in the Scriptural account of Him, 
and of what he has done and suffered without us, or to speak 
of it as a mere "influence." This is not true faith ; it is 
not the "substance of things hoped for," — it is not a 
living, efficacious faith, such as is able to save the soul. 
This is not Quakerism, but it is what the most carnal pro- 



104 Lin: AM) LETTERS OF [1838. 

fessors in the world would allow. It Is their principle, 

DOt ours, and the world lovetb its own. They arc all 

ready to join with this spirit. They are all rejoicing at 
the rapid strides which multitudes called by our name arc 
making towards them. 

When I say that it is unbelief, practical unbelief, I know 
what I say. And if >uch as are in this spirit had lived in 
the time of the outward manifestation, they would as surely 
have rejected it: they would as surely have said, "We 

will not have this mini to reign over us," notwithstanding 
the loud cry they make about the Scriptures, notwith- 
standing their professions of faith in Christ, as ever the 

high professing dews did. These were as anxiously look- 
ing for Christ to come, as those arc confident that he has 
come and suffered for us. The Jews were as well ac- 
quainted with the prophecies of their own prophets, as 
any of the description I have been speaking of, and much 
better; still they rejected Him on account of His mean 
appearance, and said, " Can any good thing come out of 
Nazareth*.'' Search and look, for out of Galilee there 
ariseth no prophet." Ah! they searched the Scripture-, 
and thought to have eternal life in them, hut they would 
not come unto Him, that they might have life. They had 
no1 His Word abiding in them. They thought to know 
Him by comparing him with the prophetical account which 
had been given forth by the spirit of prophecy concerning 
Him. But notwithstanding the astonishing clearness, the 
wonderful precision with which the time and manner of His 
coming had been foretold and recorded, they failed in 
making a right application of those prophecies to Him, 
when He appeared. And why? Because, for all their 
professions of regard to the letter of Scripture, they were 
not true believers even in them, — they were not led by the 
Spirit, — they were not subject to the Power, in and by 
winch the Scriptures were given forth. We have " the 
Wbrd of a King" for it — the testimony of the King, im- 
mortal, eternal, and invisible to the carnal eye of man, 
however mighty he may he in the literal, head knowledge 
of the Scriptures, Had they truly believed M<»>e< and 
the prophets, they would have believed in Him; for, Bays 



THOMAS B, 001 u». U 5 

He, " Moses wrote of me ;" — "Bui if ve b< do1 his 

writing, bo* Bhall ye believe my words h it no! clear 

tii.-it they were not true believers m the Scriptures of the 
< Mil Testament, although they bad as much u simple faith, 
mere credence* 1 in them, as the Scribes and Pharisees of 

the present day, and they are numerous aniongM US? 

There are those amongst as who do indeed go "in long 

rob, id "love greetings in the markets, and the up- 

per - in the synagogues, and for a show make long 

prayers;" who when they fast, fast to be seen of men, and 
all under an appearance of great humility: hut it is only 
in appearance, for it is impossible that any man can be in 

an humble frame of mind, while he is calling in question, 
not only the united judgment of the Church in its col- 
lected and official capacity, from the time when we were 
first raised up and gathered into a distinct religious society 

to the present, hut also the individual soundness of those 
Worthies who died triumphantly in that faith, for a testi- 
mony to which they suffered, in many instances, even unto 
death. Of this faith, of some of the mo'st important of 
these principles and testimonies, it is now declared, that 
they lead to or "involve the danger of a very fatal heresy.'' 
If this is true humility, it is of a different kind from that 
which I have ever desired to know* or be acquainted with. 
But it appears in some instances to have had a wonderful 
effect, in leading many "silly women captive." 

To return, — it is a fundamental doctrine of Truth, — it 
is one of those testimonies to the Truth, which we were 
raised up as a people to bear — it is a doctrine abundantly 
ified of in the Scriptures, — that no man can come 
unto Christ, except the Father, who sent Him into the 
world, draw him; that no man can savingly believe in 
Christ, except he receive the gift of faith, from Him who 
is the author and finisher of the saints' faith. For faith 
is the gift of God, and "without faith it is impossible to 
please Him.'' There must be " an understanding*' given, 
before any can "know Him that is true." There must be 
a preparation of the heart in man, by the Spirit and Power 
of the Lord. He who is the Way, the Truth, and the 
Life, must open our understandings, before we can under- 



106 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1838. 

stand the Scriptures ; and unless this is the case, we shall 
rarely fail of the right understanding of them, as erer 
the Scribes and Pharisees formerly did. Notwithstandii 
it is roundly asserted, in open violation of our acknow- 
ledged principles, and in direct contradiction to their Qfwn 
testimony, "that they must be interpreted like all other 
books, according to the common and intelligible rules of 
language, and not without a reference to innumerable facts 
and circumstances which throw light on their meaning." 
Who Bhall ever he able to refer to these innumerable facts 
and circumstances? Can that which is innumerable ever 
lie numbered pr referred to, any more than that which is 
wanting? The Scriptures are, indeed, able to make the 
man of Grod perfect (not the natural man), hut only 
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. " For the natural 
man understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God, 
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned/ 1 ....... 

My health is very poor — scarcely able to attend to my 
business. I am afflicted, but not forsaken, in the b< 
sense: and what I have to feel for k * the afflictions of 
Joseph/ 1 are my greatest sufferings. My dear love is to 
thee. 

T. B. Gould. 



To Peleg Mitchell. 

NsWPOBT, 30th of 7th month, 1838. 

My dear Friend : 

Thy letter was received four days after its latest date. 
The several items of intelligence were very interesting, 
not only to me, but to all the family ; and it was a great 
comfort to us all, to find thou hast the very same sense 
and judgment, in relation to all the subjects touched upon, 
that Ave have been favored with. As to myself, a very 
humiliating, and somewhat more public line of service has 
been my lot, in relation to the state of society now, than 

has yot been required of them, although 1 believe (hey 

have stood faithfully at their several posts. From the 
course which 1 have felt called upon to pursue, much per- 



Thomas B. fefOl LD, 107 

ution and abuse lias been visited upon me, both bj Qpen 
and avowed enemies to the truth, and \>\ those who ha 
hitherto professed much love and esteem for me, and alle- 
the principles of truth. Although I had no 
reason to doubt, yen, I was and have been sensible all 
along, of the unity and sympathy of thy spirit — I mean, 
masons when the renewed Feeling of that 

hidden fellowship <»nc with another, which still follows, 

and is a consequence of "walking in the Light/ 1 is vouch- 
ed — still the expression of it was and IS truly sweet, 

precious, and strengthening. "Words fitly spoken," or 
written, "are like apples of gold, in pictures of silver." 

pies are a very pleasant Fruit, and both these metals 

lied " precious.' 1 How good it is ! 
There was a written copy of a hook which J. J. G. had 
printed in Norwich, England, for private circulation only, 

t to me by a friend in Xew York, entitled " Brief 
Remarks upon Impartiality in the Interpretation of Scrip- 
t in In the time of the yearly meeting, I thought it 

right occasionally, in expressing my dissatisfaction with 
his other writings, and with his being suffered to travel 
as a minister amongst us, while he refused to condemn 
them, sometimes to refer to and produce it, to prove that 
he was essentially and radically unsound in the faith, and 
not only so, but that in this case he had attacked the 
principles of the Society, although, like Joab, under an 
hypocritical and deceitful profession of kindness. As I 
made no secret of my uneasiness, believing myself called 
upon to proclaim as upon the housetop, that which Was 
done as it were "by night" ("it was night," according to 
one of the evangelists, when Judas betrayed his Master), 
so I believed the full time had come for me to do what I 
did, and to do it openly. This made a wonderful stir 
amongst Gurney's friends ; it really seemed as if they 
were afraid "the house of Dagon, their god," would be 
pulled down on their heads ! Rowland Greene, who by 
the way professed to me that he was entirely ignorant of 
Gurney's having written anything unsound, told me that 
I was not aware " how much I was hurting his service" — 
that many friends were prepared to receive him as a dear 



L08 LIM AXD LttRlBfl OF [18! 

brother, he had good certificates, &c. &c. J told him, if 
he waa really ignorant, it was a very culpable igno- 
rance, — if he waa a watchman on the walls of Zion, he 

ought to know wliat the enemy was about ; that he onght 
to watch for him, and giYe the alarm when he was coming, 
fee, : and then, with some difficulty, I prevailed upon him 
to listen fo Borne parts of that book, which strikes at the 
very foundation of Quakerism, which we know to be pri- 
mitive Christianity. He said, in excuse to the company 
for listening to the book and to me, that he should not 
have done so, but for the great love and esteem he had 
had for me. This was about all the satisfaction I got 
from him : but I felt a peace flow from the sense that I 
had done that which was my duty to do, which the loss of 
his favor and my good name with him, could not take from 
me. There were about twenty-five friends present. The 
thing was much more extensively gone into than I have 
room to give thee an account of. 

It happened one day that Ave had a large company to 
dinner, between thirty and forty. While some were at 
dinner, L. T. and a young woman present got into a con- 
versation about Joseph J. Gurney ; they continued it for 
half an hour perhaps, saying many things in his favor, 
until there was a misstatement made by the female, with 
regard to his reception by friends in Philadelphia. I had 
sat entirely silent until this time, although my burden had 
been increasing : but as I attended Philadelphia Yearly 
Meeting. I happened to know how he stood with many 
friends there ; so I corrected the mistakes she had made, 
and perhaps added my own >entiments with regard to him. 
One thing led on to another, until the subject spread pretty 
wide, among us three, no other person in the room taking 
any part in it. In the midst of it, the friends from the 
first dinner-table came in. What I said seemed to pro- 
duce much uneasiness in J. Meader ; I could perceive it 
plainly before he said anything; but he soon took the 
Subject out of the hands of the young friends, by attack- 
ing me for expressing my sentiments before SO large a 
Company. I told him 1 held no objection to J. J. (»., or 
opinion concerning him, which I wished to conceal, that 



-.] THOMAS i LD. 

he had been guilty of a public offenee, and wi Far 

from being willing publicly to condemn it, that he would 
not do it privately. Putting me upon mv proof, I told 
him, 1 knew if l>v the testimony of as reputable friends 

any there were in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. He 

1. that was too far off, he might hare condemned them 
before this time. 1 then told him, k * I knew he bad not, 
by the testimony of John Wilbur, who visited him yester- 
day ii]»<>n the Bubject, and called upon him to condemh 

m, but he refused." 

There was a great de4l said, both doctrinally 

and disciplinary (that is, with regard to the "order of 

and J. J. G.'s formal certificates; which were 

obtained contrary to that power which only makes the form 

truly valuable) ; and I know that many valuable friends, 

and elders present, had unity with me in it. 
.... I had told J. M. that he (J. J. (j.) was like 

galom, k, wlio stole away the hearts of the people from 
David his father;" and that while the true ministry had a 
tendency to gather to Christ, the true Teacher, and to 
produce a silent waiting state upon Him, this man's labors 
had a contrary effect, and gathered only to the speaker, 

begetting a desire after more words Sometime 

while they were here, I was led into an expression of my 

objections to the " Association," and the reasons 

why I Could not attend their meetings, by a friend saying 
he was sorry I had not been there. J. M. treated it with 
contempt, if not with scorn. I hope I shall be enabled to 

tr the sneers of false brethren ; but I cannot take any 
part or lot in the matter. I never have felt myself at 
liberty to join any " separate" society. The same thing 
lias restrained me, that has led me into the acquaintance I 
have with the Truth. I have been earnestly solicited to 
unite, years ago, with Bible, Tract, Temperance, Anti- 
Slavery, Anti-Masonic, and even Literary Societies. Oh! 
the gate is strait, and the way is narrow, that leadeth unto 
life; and there is no other way of entering the strait gate, 
or being preserved in the narrow way, but by following 
the Light, by walking in the Liijht. Some appear to think. 
some that have, I believe, entered at the strait gate, and 

10 



110 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1838. 

walked for a time in the nartowway, thai they might take 
lni'iv liberty to h><>k about them, to sec what other people 

are doing, Or Stop and abide with them awhile: and that 

the way i> do plain there is little danger of missing it; tliat 
their own powers perhaps are Sufficient to keep them in it. 
But alas! there are so many byways and crooked paths, 

which appear at first sight (as the deeply-experienced and 
divinely-illuminated author of the "Short History of a 
Long Travel from Babylon to Bethel" said) to lie almost 

'or quite parallel to it, that if the Light is not believed in 

and followed to the end of the race, where only the crown 
is to he obtained, such will assuredly make shipwreck of 
their faith and a good conscience at the same time; for it 
is not they that run well for a season, hut they that hold 
out to the end, that are saved. The invincible shield of 
faith, and armor of light, is as able to repel all the fiery 
darts of the wicked as ever, blessed be His name in whom 
is Life, and the life is the light of men ; in whom is Light, 
and there is no darkness at all in Him ! But darkle 
covers all the land of Egypt : and many there are who 
have gone back into it, and their darkness is to be felt 
indeed, yea, thick darkness is their hiding-place; they are 
stumbling upon the dark mountains, and all the while cry- 
ing, ** The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are 
these;'' but the Lord is not among them; for where the 
Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, but there is bondage 
in Egypt. 

I herewith send thee a copy of the not. 

took, of what passed between us. I have felt the greater 
necessity to do so, from the fact that my having spoken to 
him has been an additional cause of suffering and persecu- 
tion to me, although ]{. Greene and John Meader both 
advised me to do so; they both thought, however, I have 
no doubt, it would be the last thing 1 should do or say in 
the matter. If thev did, they Were mistaken. He was 
not permitted to give my "flesh to the fowls of the air," 
no}- to "the beasts of the field;" but he "despised my 
youth," as well as that simplicity in which L appeared 
before him, as much as ever Goliath of Gath did David's, 
and his sling and stones. Although 1 am not about by 



THOMAS B. GOULD. 1 1 1 

:ni\ mpare myself with David, vet I am satis- 

fied that he might be compared to Goliath; he has as truly 

I the armies of the living God and their spiritual 
he is as truly harnessed "with a coat of mail' 1 

spiritually, as Goliath was literally. In this respeet, how- 

r, there is a wide difference: the one appeared in his 
i native character; he wae I Philistine, and we have 
account that he ever sought to pass for anything el 

The other is in the Philistine nature: he is Beeking to 

top the wells which the children of Israel have digged," 
— yet says, he is a Jew, but is not, He is not even a Jew 

Outwardly; he has not got even the form of sound words: 
and nh. now tar removed iVom being "in the Spirit, and 

not in the letter:" — he is in the letter, and not in the spi- 
rit, and his praise is of men, and not of the Lord. . . . 

( ( # Poor is in a Sardis, hut has not defiled 

his garments. Oh, how I have felt for such as hare been 

king the Pearl of great price, and made willing to sell 
all that they had, in order to purchase the field in which 
the Pearl lay hid; when these have, through deep bap- 
tisms and humbling exercises, come among us, and have 
found such unsoundness, lukewarmness, and unfruitful- 
ness, how must they feel? They cannot help seeing that 
the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint, with 
many who are accounted leaders of the people. These 
are they who cause them to err ; these are they who are 
now destroying the way of the paths of righteousness. 

i, they that are leading captive the simple, who depend 
upon them without sufficiently bringing their spirits to the 
balance of the sanctuary, are requiring a song, and they 
that are spoiling us are requiring of us mirth, say- 
ing, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. This was literally 
the ease in the time of the yearly meeting. But how 
can the Lord's song be sung in the city of a strange land ? 
The harps of the faithful are hung upon the willow- ; 
mourning, and lamentation, and woe, is written within, and 
on the backside of the book which is open before them. 
They weep when they remember Zion! The wall thereof 
is broken down, and the gates burnt with fire. The wild 
boar of the forest is making ravages in the midst of the 



112 UFi: AND LETTERS OF [1838. 

camp; there is an enemy in the midst of the camp, nour- 
ished and caressed there. But there is a small remnant 
preserved. These are becoming increasingly near to each 
other. Oh, their fellowship with each other, and with 
their holy Head; is sensibly increased and increasing ! By 
the three hundred men who lapped water aa a dtfg lappeth, 
the Lord Bared Israel out of the hand of Midian. None 
of the fearful and afraid were permitted to remain: they 
were sent home. I hate had a language Bounding in my 
ears for many vears: The people are too many, the people 
are too many ! I veril y believe they will be sifted as corn 
is Bifted in a sieve. The pure wheat wiH bear it ; gold 
will abide the fire. But such as have been building with 
wood, hay and stubble, these will suffer loss of all ! There 
is great confusion now among them; it seems as if they 
were afraid of their own shadow. Some of them flee when 
no man pursueth them. 

.... I am frequently suffering great difficulty of 
breathing) and have a troublesome oough, although I have 
been more comfortable the whole of the last week, till to- 
day, than at any time since the yearly meeting 1 ; haying 
never, in the course of my disease, been reduced so low as 
since that time: "my heart and toy strength " haying 
both % * failed" me. In this respect, however, 1 hope not to 
be misunderstood; for my faith never was stronger than 
it has been of late. But, as R. Barclay said, " all com- 
parisons halt in some part," so I believe ([notations may 
sometimes. u My heart has failed me," in respect to the 
honor of Truth being maintained by the Soeiety in a gene- 
ral way : ami in particular, by some who have stood high, 
whom few suspected at all, and of whom I had hoped 
hotter, much better things. These have discernment 
enough to see my bodily strength is wasted and wasting, 
ami they lay hold of that, to weaken and take off the 

force of my concern in respect to "the better part;*' of 
which David said, in immediate connection, I think, with 
the above quotation, v * 1 Jut God is the strength of my 

heart, and my portion forever." 

1 should not have hinted at those Small matters and 
light afflictions, hut in order more effectually to encomp;: 



3, ] THOJI Lfi l M». I L8 

i poinl 1 have had in view all the while; which is, that 
thou mays! I>< v induced to consider more weightily the 
obligation, not to expose what conies t<> thee in black and 
white, from thy "weak brother/ 1 and which is written 
under so many unfavorable circumstances. Still, if there 
may aay, the least, good arise from it, I should not pro- 
hibit it, believing thou art acquainted with that '-wisdom 
which is profitable to direct," — although additional Buf- 
fering and persecution should follow. As deal- John Bar- 
clay, of England, said, in a letter to John Wilbur, which I 
have before me, dated 8th nto., 1887 (it was the last he 

tr wrote to him): "Now 1 have relieved my mind in 

the above respect, how shall I do to set forth all I could 

; our present, past, and probable future posture, as 

a religious body, in this land? 1 trust on many points thou 
ably and fully addressed by many Friends of this- 
country. 1 shall then only touch at things that come he- 
fore me, and thou must give mc credit for entire union with 
thee and all those who still remain wholly on the Lord's side, 
and one with our holy ancient ones and valiants, even the 
primitive stock, who came forth in the powerful Name which 
is above every name, and unto which every other name, how- 
ever high and lifted up, must bow ! Ah, beloved friend, thou 
that saw the first seeds and dawning of that which has now 
manifested itself in degree, knowest well enough, how much 
of the same nature and root we still have, to oppress and 
afflict us, and of which it is difficult to particularize, or speak 
closely of, in the abstract, without allusions to individuals 
who give uneasiness." This quotation may halt in some 
part, but in others I am sure it will " hold East." I had 
intended, when I commenced, to inquire of thee what thou 
hadst known of this John Barclay, and whether thou hadst 
seen any of his writings ; also to have given thee an ex- 
tract from his " Preliminary Observations (to Jos. Pike's 
and Jos. Oxley's Journals), chiefly addressed to the So- 
ciety of Friends," on the subject of religious controversy, 
and the state and condition of the Society in England. 
He was a descendant of R. 1>. in the life and power^ aa 
well as in name and character ; none in membership with 
the Society in this day having, in my judgment, come out 

10* 



Ill LIFK AND LKTTEKS OF [18 

in writing with equal clearness and sound-, him, and 
to the same extent* 1 1«* was a minister also 

Thy friend. 

Thomas B. Gould. 



Fbom T. P>. Gould to \v. C, T. 

NeWPOBTj l.uh of 2d mo., 1839. 

Mi dbab Friend : 

.... J cannot siv tliat I have read the whole of AVil- 
liam Allen's " Selections from Barclay's Apology," or 
that I have compared it throughout with the original work; 

my eyes have been se weak this winter, and other things 
intervening have prevented me. But I have examined it 

sufficiently to warrant my saying, that I do not approve 
of it : and if the limits of an ordinary letter would admit, 
I could give many solid reasons why I do not. As the 
Case IS, 1 shall confine myself to — first, in regard to the 
original work " containing much controversial matter 
[which was] better suited to the period in which it was 
Written than to the present time." Inasmuch as it is a 
notorious fact, that many of the principles and practi 
which are controverted in the '^Apology" (and which, so far 
as sound reason and argument, supported hy the testimony 
of the H<dy Scriptures, can do it, arc therein and thereby 
entirely overthrown ), are now promulgated and strenuously 
advocated by some of the members and ministers (so called) 
of that very Society, for "an explanation and vindication 
of [whose] principles and doctrines*' it was originally 
written, and by whom it has been officially, and, until a 
recent date -unanimously approved, and more extensively 
circulated ]^y the Society than any Other hook: 1 say, 
inasmuch as these are notorious facts, I do not approve of 
the controversial part, nor any other part of the work, 
being omitted; neither do 1 believe that it is "too volumi- 
nous for the generality of readers. M 

Secondly: In this "Selection," divers fundamental 
principles and doctrines which the Society has always 
held, and until recently (as a body) faithfully supported, 
arc entirely omitted, the same principles and doctrines 



1-., TIK'MA I.I>. 11"> 

non called in question, and undervalued, and de- 
nominated mistakes and heresies, by Borne who Bland in 
high stations in the Society! viz.: First, — u Concerning 
the true (ground and) Foundation of (religious) know- 
_■(>■* — a whole proposition omitted. Secondly, — con- 
ainj; the % * adequate primary rule of faith and mann< 
the Spirit the first and principal leader." And to | 

r many other important omissions, and some alterations 

not rery creditable to him who made them, I come, thirdly 

1 lastly, to "the communion or participation of the 
body and blood of Christ*" Under this head or proposi- 
tion, thou wilt find that all that K. B. has Baid, about 
-•what that body and what that flesh and blood is" which 
ii, — supported as he is by the testimony of the 

ipture8, and by the "most BOUnd and solid reason," ho 
say nothing about the hitherto undeviattng testimony and 
principle of the Society. — is entirely omitted (being 

era! pages, or nearly three sections); and no allusion, 
that L have been able to discover, made therein to any 
oth or people whatever, except in the third section, 

where he does allude to the Papists, Lutherans, and Cal- 
vinists. And in the latter part of this third section, W; 
A. recommences his "Selections;" which are wholly, or 
nearly so. aimed against the ceremonial use of bread and 
wine : and it seems to me that it requires but little discern- 
ment, : that what is here omitted is in no wise of so 
controversial a character as that which is retained or 

•lected ;" inasmuch as the important, fundamental truth, 
advocated by It. B. in what is left out of W;A/s book, 
has never been asserted by any that I know of, except by 
our blessed Lord and His apostles, the primitive Friends, 
and those of the same faith, and led by the same unerring 
Spirit, light, and grace, in the present day ; and by Augus- 
tine, whose spiritual understanding of, and declaration 
concerning "the body of Christ which is eaten," R. B. 
quotes; viz.: "Ye shall not eat of this body which ye 
see, and drink this blood which they shall spill which 
crucify me. I am the living bread, who have descended 
from heaven. He calls Himself the bread who descended 
from heaven, exhorting that we might believe in Hitn," ( 



116 LOT! AND liBTTBBS OF [1839. 

And El. P>. ;_ r «'c- on and Bays: "If it be asked, what that 

body, what that flesh and blood IS?" I answer: •• It is 

that heavenly seed, that divine spiritual, celestial sub- 
stance, of which we -pake before, in the fifth and sixth 

proposition-. This is that spiritual body of ( Ihrist, whereby 
and through which He commnnicateth life to men, and 

salvation to a> nianv as believe in Jlim and receive Jlini ; 
and whereby also man comes to have fellowship and com- 
munion with God." Then follows his Scripture proof of 
this doctrine. 1 feel the more reason to disapprove of W. 
A. > omitting this part, because J. J. Gnrney, in his 
" Brief Remarks on Impartiality in the Interpretation of 
Scripture," which was printed in 1836 (W. Allen's hook 

was printed in 1837), has expressed opinions on the flesh 
and blood of Christ (as well as on many other fundamental 
and important points of" doctrine), utterly at variance with 
our original principles. I shall inclose thee all he says 
on this subject in that book, and I do earnestly request 
thee to compare it with R. J>.'s thirteenth proposition 
throughout, and the latter with \V. Allen's "Selections." 
These new views, I have the best authority lor saying, 
have obtained about London, to an alarming extent, so 
that the Morning Meeting some time since refused to pass 
a tract written by Samuel Hundell, on account of its con- 
taining extracts from EL B/s "ApologyJ" and the doctrine 
it contained being in conformity with it. The title of the 
tract is, "Observations on the Redemption of Man, on 
Divine Worship, and on the Partaking of the Flesh and 
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ/ 5 I have it now by me, 
and it is an excellent thing; but I understand that 
J.J. (i. " objected to the whole scope and tendency of it," 
when it was examined in the Morning Meeting, Wk as par- 
taking of mysticism," &c. I also know, that after the 
Morning Meeting rejected it, the author, who is a minis- 
ter, and lives at Liskeard, Cornwall, was induced to 

republish it by the encouragement given him by Daniel 

Wheeler. It had been printed before. 

Notwithstanding I have written so much, I cannot seem 

to get clear of the Weight of the subject of the hue and 

<tv now raised against controversy, by those who are dis- 



9, | j ii u>. 1 17 

to drop the original principles of the Society 6t 
Is, and to adopt new notions utterly at variance with 
them* R. Mott, when last here, on his return from N 
Iford after vearly meeting, in a large meeting called 
on his account, publicly condemned all "pole- 
mical controversy," saying, **it had been a waste of time 
ami talents, a lavish waste," and that he "had no pa* 
ticular class of controversialists in view:" u ] condemn 

them all," -aid he. 1 suppose, and sonic of his Own ad- 

mir y, that the articles lately inserted in "The 

Friend," over the signature M. II., belong to ham. [o 

the last of them there is anotlier hint and nod or two at 

By, strictures, rejoinders, &c, under the cover of 
*• I fospel family order." ...... 

a time, at this time, when it cannot he denied thai 
there is an attempt making, both from within and without 
the 8 ciety, — "when both ingenuity and industry are 
taxed, for the purpose of giving to Quakerism another 
form and character than that which it has ever known" 
• William and Thomas Evans's address to their sub- 
bers, on the cover of the first month of the third 
volume of the " Library*'), — it does not seem remarkable 
to me, that such as unite with those who arc engaged in 
this work should be afraid of controversy. It is a very 
natural fear, and it has been a very common one too! 
The adversaries of the Society, whether within or without 
its pale, always feared the force of truth and justice 
erected for the defence and spread of its principles. The 
Hick-sites cried out against it: no man was to be con- 
demned for his opinions on religious subjects; they were 
not to be controverted in the least ; no, no ! Their cry 
was, u "Wc must all live in love together, and every man 
enjoy his own opinion." 

At the very first appearance of these things in England, 
before the days of Beaconism, every effort was made to 
ate a prejudice against the controversial writings of our 
early Friends. Some said, M they had better never been 
written ;" and others, that "they ought to be gathered 
into a heap and burnt." These artful men well knew, that 
so long as they continued to be read and justly valued, 



118 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18^'. 

they never would be able to bring in the very notions, to 
controvert which these writings were written, in the open* 
ings and requirings of the Lord's divine light and Spirit; 
which light never had any fellowship with darkness, bat 

always manifested it and reproved it, as did those who 

walked in the light and were led by the Spirit. See the 

Apostle: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works 

of darkness, hut rather reprove them:" and a multitude 
of Scriptures might he produced, to prove that this sub- 
terfuge, that wrong things, unsound things, and those who 
err from the faith and bring in Strange doctrines, dociri: 

of devils, must not he controverted, is anti-scriptural* It 

can he proved that such ought to be u rebuked sharply, 
that they may he sound in the faith/' and, if that end is 
not gained, that " their mouths ought to be stopped." 

But it dors seem not a little remarkable, that any in 
whom there is left a good degree of honesty and faithful- 
ness to our principles, should he ifc the subjects of so mar- 
vellous a hebetude of vision, as not to discern the fallacy" 
of their pretensions to charity, love, unity. \c, when they 
are Only made a cover for attacking the everlasting, un- 
changeable foundation, through those who are endeavoring 
to build upon it, not with wood, hay, or stubble, but a 
spiritual and heavenly building which will abide the fire, — 
n by and through the Spirit and power of Christ, — a 
habitation for His holy Presence to dwell, to tabernacle in. 
I am often forcibly reminded, whilst viewing, as it were 
"by night," the walls of Jerusalem, which arc broken 
down, and her gates, which were once so strongly guarded, 
and the posts thereof so firmly rooted and established upon 
that which is sure, but are now burnt as with fire, and the 
bars thereof removed — I am forcibly reminded of Abner, 
whom Joab took aside to Bpeak with him in the gate 
quietly, and smote him under the fifth rib, that he died. 
Surely, well might David exclaim, ki Died Aimer as a fool 
dicth ! Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into 
-." &c. And of Judas, who, under a profession of 
love, betrayed his Master! I may well say, "whilst view- 
ing the walls by night;" for i am not known to Wk my 
people," nor to the elders of my people (so called), many of 



1 B39, ] TEOMJ LD. I L9 

them, except as q u byword," a hissing, and to be 

ached; on account of the testimony which I hold, and 
am constrained to bear, against these things. And firm 1 
am in the belief, that if 1 am favored to hold fast the be- 
ginning of my confidence finn unto the end, I Bhall know 
an overcoming : and all those who are faithful will know 
an overcoming, a getting the victory over the beast and 

over his image, over his mark, and OVOT the number of his 

name, and over the false prophets too — those who Bay they 
are Jews, hut are not, hut are of the synagogue of Satan. — 
u bythe blood of the Land)," and by the word of their 

timonies which they have hold, not having loved theif 
3 unto the death. 

When those disaffected persons in England, before 
>]»(>kon of. had paved the way for it, by creating a preju- 
dice against the controversial writings of Friends, mid 

ting dust upon them (in which unhallowed work they 
succeeded too well with many honest but unsuspecting 
Friends), the next step, and it was a short one, was to 
call their testimonies and doctrines and practices in ques- 
tion ; and notwithstanding all their pretensions to faith, 
charity, and love, the event has proved they were destitute 
of either of these Christian virtues. I acknowledge that 
some of these have quite gone oif ; yet but few compared 
with the extent of the unsoundness, as divers letters now 
by me, from sound Friends, ministers and others, in Eng- 
land, would prove. Other facts and circumstances, coming 
under our own observation, prove it. The language of 
one of the letters referred to is : " I sometimes think it is 
only a part of the roughest of the mixture which has been 
sifted from us. There is much of a more specious and 
refined nature remaining, which, if I mistake not, is still 
more opposed to the simplicity of the truth as it is in Jesus. 
Oh ! what a subtle enemy is ours, working in a mys- 
tery!" &c. 

It is abundantly and sorrowfully evident, that the same 
spirit which operated in E. Bates and the Beaconites, is 
still at work in the Society in England and in this coun- 
try, though under a more subtle and specious, and of course 
more dangerous, garb. I say, in this country, — yes, in 



120 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1839. 

this country, — and time will manifest that what I 
the truth. There are those now living who will, then, have 
an opportunity to see, and perhaps feel, what all this up- 
roar and outcry against controversy means, and the call 
which has been heard (rem Dan even to Beersheba, to be 
stt'/I and quiet) and to have patience, and charity, and 
love, for those things which some of us do assuredly know- 
to be evil : even that it is intended to lay us asleep, if on 
the lap of Delilah, until they have shorn us of our strength, 
and put out our eyes; — then they will rejoice over US, as 
the Philistines did over Samson in the house of Dagon: 
that it is intended to prevent us from making any the 
least resistance, until they have penetrated the very heart 
of our city, and even into the temple, and robbed it of the 
vessels of gold and of silver, the treasures of the Lord's 
house, which they will carry away with them to Babylon, 
and the people to a land of captivity! 

And now, my dear friend, in the conclusion of this long 
letter, allow me to say, may that part of the message which 
was written unto the Church at Ephesus, which is quoted 
below, he applied unto thee ; may it be verified in thy own 
experience, through the power and operation of the same 
Spirit which revealed to John, the beloved disciple and 
Servant of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (who is the 
faithful and true Witness, the true Light and Life of men, 
the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning 
and the ending) — " those things which must shortly come 
to pass;" and who declared, "Blessed is he that readeth, 
and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep 
those things which arc written therein, for the time is at 
hand/' May it be applied unto thee : u These things saith 
lie that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who 
walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks : I 
know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how 
thou canst not bear them that are evil : and thou hast tried 
them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast 
found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and 

fur niv name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted." 
In much unfeigned love, 1 am thy friend, 

Thomas B, Gould. 



188 THOMAS B. QOULIh 121 

From T. B. <;. to Joins Wilbur. 

of 3d month, I - 

.MY I - ID AND \ IKY KIND FRIBND ! 

I am very much obliged — we lire all very 

Bach obliged — by thy minute account of thy providential 
deliverance. It certainly was not merely a "chan< 
which happened to thee; for the eye of the Lord is con- 
tinually upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in 
His mercy; not only to deliver their bou! from death, and 

feO keep them alive 4 in famine, spiritually : but I am firm in 

the belief, — notwithstanding Ho eauseth the sun to shine on 

evil and on the good, and Bendeth rain on the just and 

en the unjust, — that even in temporal things, in things 

which relate to these p"<»r bodies, there is not only a dif- 
ence in the Bubject, by or from which the event is or 
may he distinguished and denominated, but also, that what- 
ever is permitted outwardly to befall those who are follow- 
of that which is good, is designed by Him who num- 
bered] the very hairs of the heads of such, to "work 
together" with those spiritual dispensations which He sees 
meet to lead into and impart, " for good/' and for the pro- 
motion and consummation of His own all-wise and inscru- 
table purposes, in and upon His children and people, as 
well as for the furtherance and accomplishment of their 
work and service for His name and truth's sake. 

Really I can, according to my small measure and growth, 
have fellowship and sympathy with thee in mourning and 
lamentation, on account of Israel's loss, in the removal of 
that valiant man and honorable elder, Jonathan Evans, 
who was indeed to many, in this day of warfare with A ma- 
lek, as Aaron and as Hur were to Moses in that day when 
his hands were ready to hang down, by reason of hcavin 
and sorrow for a highly-favored but stiff-necked and rebel- 
lious people, who forsook their own mercies, and turned 
their backs upon, and trampled under their feet, the testi- 
monies which the Lord had given them to bear. 

I was spending the evening at William Nichols's when 
the sorrowful tidings reached me. I might have adopted, 
and I believe I did adopt, a part of David's expressions 

11 



122 LIFE ANI> LETTERS OF [1839, 

on the death of Abner: "Know ye not that there is a 
prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel V* Sorely 
I felt weak, and I believe we felt that the little company 
who arc left, and who are still favored to Bay, "Thine 
are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse," are 
weakened, are Btrippedand peeled .-till further 

Cannot a remnant now say, in reference to this vine, 
which was indeed planted a noble vine, wholly a right 

d, as the prophet Baid of old, " I will bewail with the 
weeping of Jazar the vine of Sibmah; I will water thee 
with my tears, Qeshbonand Elealeh! for thou hast laid 
my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree, laying it clean 
bare, even with the ground?" .... 

I had not read for some time in either of the Books of 
Kings, when I received thine; but as I was reading what 
thou hast so instructively and comfortably written about 
Elisha, it was revived in my remembrance, how it was with 
him ** when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a 
whirlwind;" that he, Elisha, knew it, and "went with 
Elijah from Gilgal;" and that he would not be prevailed 
on to remain there, but when the Lord sent him to Bethel 
he Baid, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I 
will not leave thee." And so again at Jericho, where 
Elijah proved Klisha still further (no doubt by divine re- 
quirement, or permission at least) saving, " Tarry here, I 
pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan :" but he 
continued unwavering, and would not leave Elijah, no, not 
even when he came to Jordan. Oh! what he would have 
lost if he had left him! Undoubtedly he would not have 
received a double portion of the spirit which was in and 
upon Elijah; he certainly could not have caught the 
mantle as it fell from him ; for it was after they were 
"gone over" Jordan, that Elijah said, " Ask what I shall 
do for thee;" and even then, beside his asking a hard 
thing, there was another condition, that of watchfulness: 
w * Nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee, 
it shall be done unto thee : but if not, it shall not be done." 
Are not watchfulness, faithfulness, and obedience incul- 
cated here! 1 have often thought so before, and re- 
newedly so at this time, as well as when I was read- 
ing thine. 



9. ] THOMAS i u>. 128 

go, when I was a little child, 1 r«- 
member how I loved, and how I was concerned to endea- 

to keep near those who kept near the Lord ; and bow 
earnestly 1 desired then to be able to aee spiritually who 
were near Him; and I remember how it was opened tome 
then, that it was necessary for me to keep my own eyes, 
the eye of my mind, to Him. and upon Sim, and in Ilim, 
oo1 only for my own Bafe condition and standing, but also 
it was clearly and immediately opened to my view, that 

n those who bad attained to a good condition, to a 
heavenly and honorable condition, might lose it and fall 
from it. and vet this might be the case when, as to the 
outward, there might be little change in the appearance: 

that the mind must be kept principally and primarily 
in the " Head," and not look to men or follow men, any 

farther than they followed Him and were found in Ilim. I 
desire to speak it to the praise of that grace, everlasting 
loving-kindness, and tender mercy, by which not only I am 

what I am, but by which alone I have been preserved from 
still clinging to and following after men, who, having 
once been favored with it, and richly adorned and emi- 
nently qualified by it for usefulness, and thereby made 
a- examples to the flock, have turned from it to wan- 
tonness. But how many there are who practise upon the 
false principle, " once in grace, always in grace," how- 
ever unwilling they may be to own it ; so that if a man 
has once had a name to live, and especially if this reputa- 
tion has been great and generally acknowledged, when he 
loses his life and becomes spiritually dead, to all intents 
and purposes, nothing remaining but a lifeless carcass, 
and even this unlike that of the prophet who was slain by 
the lion (for his carcass was not eaten, nor the ass on 
which he rode torn), he must still be honored and cherished, 
as if he were a living man ! 

When I have thought of the course which , , 

and many others have of late pursued, I have been forci- 
bly reminded of Jehoshaphat, of whom it is recorded that 
he did that which was right in the si^rht of the Lord, walk- 
ing in the way of Asa his father : howbeit the high places 
w r ere not taken away (in his reign), but the people still 



12 t LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1839. 

offered and burnt sacrifices in the high places: and he 
made peace with the king of Israel, lie joined affinity with 
that wicked Ahab, and went at his call to Ramoth-Gilead 
to battle, saying, "1 am as thou art, my people as thy 
people, and my horses as thy horses.' 1 Alas! how nearly 
it cost him his life ! 

The time has come when I can well understand how it 
was with the prophet when he said, " 0, that I had in the 
wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men, that I might 
leave my people and go from them." And I believe it 
will be with the profession of Quakerism, as it was with 
the profession of Christianity in primitive times; when it 
became popular, it was adopted and professed by men of 
worldly wealth and power: kings and princes trading in 
it and with it; and the true Church was driven into the 
wilderness by those icho bore her name and gloried in it, 
boasting of the constancy of those who bad previously 
suffered martyrdom for the thing itself, which they only 
had the image and likeness of, and were " persecuting the 
woman and the remnant of her seed," — until they drove 
her out of sight, and for a time, to outward appearance, 
got rid of her ; although she never ceased to exist in the 
place prepared for her of the Lord, her Maker and her Hus- 
band, who still nourished her and loved her in her forlorn 
and desolate condition. But then was the time of the 
vain-glory of the false church, when she sat as a queen and 
no widow, upon the scarlet-colored beast; when the false 
prophet, with his lying wonders, deceived the nations, 
upon which the false church sat, and over which she bare 
rule. 

And now, notwithstanding it did please Him who is 
Head over all things to his Church, to make way for her, 
several hundred years ago, to come forth out of the wilder- 
ness, '•clothed" indeed "with the sun/' and not only the 
moon hut all changeable things under her i'eet. — notwith- 
standing she was brought forth "lair as the moon, cical- 
as the Min. and terrible as an army with banners," — not- 
withstanding the Lord was her light, and her Clod alone 
her glory, — notwithstanding He was for a crown of glory 
and a diadem of beauty, unto her, and for a spirit of judg- 



1889. ] raoMAfl b. qould. L25 

men! to them thai sat in judgment, and for strength to 
them thai turned the battle to the gate, — notwithstanding 
the mountain of the Lord's house was exalted, and set 
upon tin* top of the mountains, and above the hills, and 
many people did come and say, " Let us go up to the 
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, 
for He will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his 
paths, — for out of Zion shall go forth a law, and the word 
of the Lord from Jerusalem" (though all nations did not 
Bow unto it, neither have they to this day), — notwith- 
standing, as I firmly believe, our ancient Friends did 

arrive at and stand upon the very summit of the Lord's 
mountain, the top of the holy hill of Zion ; and standing 

there, thev witnessed, and in them and to them was ful- 
filled the vision of the evangelical prophet, " In this 

mountain shall the Lord make unto all people (that come 
unto it) a feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, 
of wines on the lees well refined j and shall destroy the 
face of the covering that is spread over the nations, and 
the veil that is over all people" (that have not known 
what it is to find and stand upon Mount Zion, the holy 
hill, which cannot be removed), — notwithstanding this is 
my faith concerning them and the glorious work which 
they wrought, through the Lord's eternal spirit and power, 
ami that they were a people "formed for himself," and by 
himself, and showed forth His praise, the praise of his own 
work, — and so, I believe, there has been a living remnant 
from that day to this, preserved upon this everlasting 
foundation, though not so many in proportion to the num- 
bers who professed the same high and holy calling ; ami 
of latter time the number of this remnant has been fast 
decreasing, — notwithstanding all this, and that I have, I 
believe, as deep and exalted a sense as I am capable of, 
of the surpassing strength, excellency, dignity, glory, ami 
beauty of those testimonies which the Society of Friends 
was raised up to bear, and which they did formerly bear 
faithfully and nobly; — yet I do believe that those who 
stand faithful to these heavenly principles (which may be 
included and comprehended in one word, the Truth) will 
be excommunicated from the Society (their names are 

11* 



126 LIN AND LETTERS OF [1839. 

already cast out as evil) ; that they will be driven back 
into the wilderness, and go out of sight, very much, as it 
respects an outwardly gathered, and visible state and con- 
dition ; while those who have gone from the Spirit, Life, 

and Power (which joins to the living Head), and arc sepa- 
rated from the Vine, and arc cast forth as a branch, and 

arc burnt and withered, will retain the image, the name, 

\c. And by how much the reformation which was wrought 
under this name and power exceeded, and the ground which 

was gained, overlooked, surpassed, and was advanced be- 
yond any former age, state, and condition of the visible 
Church, by 80 much will those who are clothed with an 
imperfect image and likeness of it, the more deceive the 
nations, than any others have done ; and by so much the 
more keen and afflicting will the persecution be, which 
these inflict upon the "residue of the people who arc 
left," even the remnant of the seed of that " woman" who 
was "clothed with thc # sun," had the u moon under her 
feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head.'' For, 
as that eminent seer and true prophet, Job Scott, said in 
his preface to " The Baptism of Christ, a Gospel ordi- 
nance :" " Babylon is not yet so fallen as to rise no 
more : she is Still lurking in a mystery ; mystery Baby- 
lon the great ; and still the mother of many harlots ; 
thousands are ensnared among some or other of her 
daughters, and are not aware of her cup." And this will 
be the most harmful of all her many and artful sorceries, 
a doubly refined golden cup, full of the greatest abomi- 
nations that ever yet. made desolate the heritage of the 
Lord, 

On reading this latter part over, what shall I Bay to 
thee, my dear friend ? 1 will Bay, for I can do it in 
truth, as J. Barclay said to P. Bedford, that when I took 
up my pen, I had quite another intention, than to have 
branched out on this subject at this time ; although I had 
thought, some time ago, of expressing my views to thee in 
a somewhat similar Way. But I found myself writing upon 
it before 1 was well aware, and then could not seem to leave 
it sooner. If I have gone too far, please burn it immedi- 
ately, and deal very plainly with me ; although I do 



I B3&] THOU \> B. 0OULD. L27 

not .-it present think I have, if I have mritten bo m 
to bo understood, whicb I sometimes think I scarcely 

do 

I haw BO many things On hand, and am BO Feeble and 

poorly, that it seems as if whal 1 have to do must he done 
qaicklj ; for I can hardly keep or go about. J have also 
lost my hope that anything will be done in a Society 
capacity, or that [as such] it will be saved from utter 

ruin. That truths testimonies a\ i 1 1 be lost by it [a> a 
body] I greatly fear; though, of a solitary remnant I am 

still firmly persuaded, that they will he saved, " as the two 
or three berries from the top of the uppermost boughs, four 
or five upon the outermost fruitful branches thereof." But 
they will surely be as the gleaning grapes that are left in 
it (in the true faith of the Gtospel), or as the shaking of an 
olive tree : for everything that can be shaken will be 
shaken, and that only which is founded on the immovable 
Rock will remain. And if it is not fully accomplished 
in the days of the fathers, it will be in the days of the 
children. 

Thy sure friend, 

Thomas B. Gould.* 



To Peleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 8th of 3d month, 1839. 
Mv DEAR Friend, Peleg Mitchell: 

You have been much and often in my remem- 
brance, and I have employed all the time which my feeble 
state of health, and a proper attention to other incumbent 
duties, would permit, in making thee a copy of J. J. G.'s 
"Brief Remarks," &c, which I have now completed, and 
only await an opportunity to send. . . . It is one of 
the basest, most offensive, and sophisticated attacks ever 

* A portion of this letter has been already published, in the 
" Journal and Correspondence of John Wilbur/' Several other valu- 
able letters from T. 13. G., having especial reference to the trials 
attending J. W., have been included in that volume, the recent 
publication of which renders it needless to repeat them in this col- 
lection. 



128 Lin: and LBTTBRS of [1830. 

made on our principles, either from within or without the 
pale of our religious Society: and still, marvellous indeed 
must be the "hebetude of" that "vision" which "cannot 
discern the Fallacy of the author's pretensions' 1 to a con- 
cern for the "peace and prosperity of our section of the 
Christian church ! n I have been ready to say, as Jehu 
the Bon of Jehoshaphat said to Jorain (or Jehoram) the 
son of Ahah (who sold himself to do wickedly): "What 
peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel 
and her witchcrafts are so many?" And truly this man 
(and many others who are as unsound and corrupt as he) 
"covets" the "vineyard," or inheritance of our forefathers 
in the everlasting, unchangeable Truth, which the Lord 
hath " forbidden " some of us to " sell or exchange for ano- 
ther," as much as Ahah and Jezebel (with her painted 
face and tired head) coveted that of Naboth the Jezreelite, 
even for "a garden of herbs." But now, when it cannot 
be denied that there is a famine in the land, even now, 
when not only "one," but many, " go out into the field 
(the world) to gather herbs, and finding a wild vine, and 
gathering thereof ft lapful of wild gourds, come and shed 
them into the pot of pottage ;" there are some of the " sons 
of the prophets " who are still favored to know or discover 
that "there is death in the pot;" and there are some also 
who arc neither prophets nor sons of prophets, but whom 
the Lord hath taken as "they followed the flock," and as 
they were "gathering sycamore fruit," and showed them 
that * w there is death in the pot;" and hath required some 
of these "herdmen," at times and seasons, to declare, as 
tk at Bethel," that if the pottage which has been " seethed " 
IS partaken of, "the sanctuaries of Israel shall he laid 
waste." But kk the land is not able to bear all the words M 
of these, any more than it was in the days of Amos; and 
those who are called w * priests" say now, as Amaziah said 
to him : "Prophesy not again any more at Bethel, for it 
IS the king's chapel, and it is the king's court!" . 

Now is it not remarkable that Samuel (Jurncv, 
the brother of Joseph John, should haw told P. E., who 
was in London, and attended the yearly meeting there, 
when J. J. (i. got his certificates, that the story which had 



ls:V.>. ] THOMAfl i:. GOULD. 129 

tlim gone nboat, with respect to the objection to bia coming 
in the Belect yearly meeting, was utterly false! I read 

it in i letter in P.'a own handwriting, at cousin Stephen 

Truly, it' Truth's testimonie sup- 

ported in this day of "treading down and perplexity," 
those who are or may be accounted worthy to suffer for 
\\\< sake, whose they are and on whom they are based, 
from the least of them unto the greatest of them, must 

indeed Bet their lace- as ;i Hint, and he willing to stand as 
in the gap, to he shot at by every areher. That it may 
OUT experience, and that our hows may abide in 
Strength, and the arms of our hands may be made strong, 
by the power of the mighty <i<>d of Jacob, who is both the 
" Shepherd and the Stone of I-rael," is the >ineerc desire 
of thy affectionate friend, for thee and for all the upright- 
hearted who are of the wrestling Seed, as for my own soul. 

Thomas B." Gould. 



To Jonx Wilbur. 

Newport, 22d of 4th mo., 1839. 
My dear Friend : 

And lately, more especially, I have, I think, 
n and felt the application of the sorrowful language: 
k * Ephraini is joined to his idols; let him alone;" as it re- 
gpectfl some prominent individuals ; and more of the neces- 
sity of refraining from casting pearls before those who 
would only trample them under their feet, and turn again 
and rend such as, even in that " love " which is " without 
dissimulation," were seeking not to destroy that which had 
been captivated in the "snare of the fowler," but to lend 
a hand of help (where the strength was wasted in a fruit- 
less striving to get along, and to make an advancement 
while covered with the net), to lend a helping hand to re- 
move the net first, and to endeavor to get clear of that, 
entirely clear, and then to seek for the ancient path, to 
inquire where is the good old way, and to have the feet- 
turned back again into it. But what can be done for those 
who plead for the net because it is of so fine a texture, and 
hug the chains because they are gilded over with a gilding 



L30 LIFE AND LBTHRfl 01 [1839< 

that looks like the finest gold? They are not willing to 
come near that fire, by which these things must and will 
eventually be tried; and inasmuch as they will no1 submit 
to it now, I fear they will in the end suffer loss of all. . . 

.... We arc i poor priest-ridden people, here in 
Newport now, and need the "prayers of all sainte" that 
we may be enabled to "keep the faith and the patience of 
the saints." 

Father '8 judgment is, that there has been some* 

thing <>f a gathering known to the true Teacher, by some, 
ami he is very much concerned lest they should be scat- 
terecL But as far as respects the instrument of this scat- 
tering, I fully believe that his building is not to be propped 
up or supported at all, nor anything to be done that should 
have an effect to paint it, or make it look any more like 
the right thing than it now docs; but let it manifest itself, 
and be developed. For there is a sufficient attempt made 
now to pass it off as sound Quakerism, though the truth 
will appear, to sueh as are favored to have their e; 
open, notwithstanding all the art and device that can be 
used. 

I will give thee a short extract from II. Battey's last 
letter, dated 25th of 3d month. She says: "My dear 
aged lather [.Joseph Hoag] IS with us on a visit. I read 

both thy letters to him. He says : * When thou writes to 
that dear family, remember my love affectionately to them 
all. Tell them I rejoice to hear, there is yet left in New 
England one of a hundred and ten of a thousand, that are 
concerned to abide upon the ancient landmarks;' and then 
added : c It reminds me of what I passed through, previous 
to the breaking out of the schism in our yearly meeting. 
If I spoke against Elias Hicks's doctrine, the cry was, ki Be 
-till ! it wont do to say anything!" But I marked these, 
and when the time of separation came, they went off, — 
those that were SO afraid there should be a word said, lest 
it should produce a schism.' He further said, k I have 
fell the necessity of bearing public testimony, in different 

places since our division, that one woe is past, behold! 
another eometh ! and I think the second will be worse than 
the first/" .... 

Thomas B. Gould. 



L889. | rnoM is b, ld. 181 

To John Wilbur. 

Ni w P( h ol 5th mo . 

My DBAB Fi;ii:m» : 

Sorrowful as it may be, I think there is ooi 

much to be expected of any man whose faith is only pinned 
upon another's Bleeve, and who has bo little rool and dis- 
cernment in himself, as to be driven about with every 
wind of doctrine that blows. Surely, if the minds of 
Friends had not been more in love with and engrossed in 
their farms ami merchandise, and if they had been really 
convinced of and converted to the truth ; it' that faith, 
which was once delivered to the saints, had been delivered 
to them, and they had kept to the work and operation 

thereof in themselves, they had DOt BO vilely east awav 
the Bhield, as they now have done: and being found with- 
out the armor on, the fiery darts of the devil have pierced 

them, and wounded them to the life. Still, if it shall 
please the Lord in very deed to reanimate any of these 
slain; if it please Him to command any of His servants 
the prophets, to "prophesy to the wind/' and as they 
prophesy, to cause a shaking among them, and to gather 
them together (who have been scattered), bone to his bone, 
and to cover them with sinews, and to cause flesh to come 
upon them and cover them, that they may stand upon 
their feet, and become a " great army," and by virtue of 
His quickening and almighty power, be enabled to fight 
His battles; 1 hope we shall be favored to acknowledge 
and own the work in due season. But at present I appre- 
hend some of these are aware that we have at least read 
the injunction, " Lay hands suddenly on no man." But 
the unchangeable truth of that Scripture, they must most 
assuredly first be convinced of, viz. : that there is no 
manner of fellowship " between Christ and Belial," and 
that it is impossible to "partake of the Lord's table and 
the table of devils." That valiant soldier in the Lamb's 
army, Joseph Iloag, I understand, said lately in his 
preaching, that " there was nothing the devil liked better 
than to get his kingdom alongside Christ's kingdom; but 
though he might make it look never so much like it, he 



132 LIFB AND LETTERS OF [1839. 

could not p-t it in. and that he (the devil) never had it in 
his power t«> emit one ray <>i' light to illustrate the truth ! ,J 
How much need some of these Babel-builders have, to 
learn the " first principle- of the doctrine of ( Shrist ;" and 

with all their study and research, what novices they are 

in those things which are clearly seen and thoroughly 

understood by mere children and babes, whose vouth thev 

so much affect to despise ! But the eternal decree and 
purpose of Him, to whom all his works are known from 
the beginning, to hide these things forever from that eye 
which is disposed to pry into them, to "study" them, and 
search them out, cannot be changed; neither can His holy 
will and pleasure to reveal them unto babes, any more be 
changed. The preaching of the cross is as great a stum- 
bling-block to those who sav thev are Jews now, and are 
not, as it was to them of old, and as very foolishness to 
the modem as to the ancient Greeks, — " the learned and 
polished Greeks.' 1 And so also, " to them that believe" 
in Christ, the Word of faith (who is nigh, in the heart 
and in the mouth), and whose faith cometh by hearing 
Him, the living and eternal Word, which was in the 
beginning, and liveth and abideth forever, — to these lie 
is known to be the wisdom of God, and the power of God, 
yea. He is made unto these, of the Father, "- wisdom, and 
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 

Oli, that men might be brought down, that they might 
know the wrong eye, the false eye, closed, and the right 
eve, the true eye, the single eye, opened! Then should 
their spiritual "bodies" be " filled with light," by Him 
who is the Fountain of light, and hath His habitation 
therein forever: and by walking in the light, they would 
come to have fellowship and communion with him, and one 
with another. Then indeed would the "blood Of Christ" 
be found precious ; then there would be ground for a sure 
testimony to be home to the preciousness of His blood, 
and the benefits of \\\< death and sufferings ; for, having 
known an overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and by 
the word of the testimony, such would have "right to the 
tree of life," and the fountain of life, and would have a 
real interest in, and a joint fellowship with Him in His 



l B3JK] iHOMAfl B. ooi 1. 1>. L88 

deatb and Bufferings, having been made conformable there- 
unto; and thus would enter in u through the gate," and 
l»y " the door," Into the city, thai spiritual, celestial lm 
habitation, and building, % * which hath foundations,' 1 wh< 
walls are Balvation and her gates arc praise, and wh< 
builder and maker the Lord alone is. 

I had no intention to have written thus, but a very dif- 
ferent One. If 1 do >end this sheet, I hope thou wilt e\- 

ouse me, on account of the great weight and burden which 

I am laboring under, in respect to these things, and many 
other points with which the true believer, the true Quaker, 

cannot but he familiar 

We are a tried people here in Newport, or a tried reln- 
nant, and u no people" (in the scriptural use of the term); 
and I sometimes think, if the "three mighty men" were 
here, who brake through and drew water out of the well 
which was by the gate of Bethlehem, when David longed 
for it, they would hardly he able to reach it, and return 
with it to the king; the Philistines do stop up the wells 
which the children of Israel have digged, so that there is 
danger of perishing for want of water, not for want of 
words 

In much love and near affection, I am thy sure friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



From John Wilbur to T. B. G. 

6th mo. 11th, 1839. 
. . . . T. Shillitoe's opinion, that if Friends do 
not what they can to discourage or suppress his [J. J. G.'s] 
writings, the Society will go down, has come fresh to me 
within two or three days, and I am confirmed of its truth. 
The defection has already advanced so far that, although 
a remnant may be preserved, by the bearing of a faithful 
testimony against him and his writings, yet I do greatly 
fear that those who are now prepared to resist the bearing 
of such a testimony, will go away, and Avalk no more with 
our crucified Lord. In reading the last volume of T. S., 
I met with a particular account of the separation in New 
York, and of what transpired in the first meeting " there- 

12 



134 LOT AM) LETTERS OF [1840. 

after." He says that "Daniel Havilarid, a very aged, 
blind friend, Baid, the scene we had passed through in this 
v« arly meeting was clearly unfolded t<» hi- new before lie 
came t<» the city, and expressed his thankfulness to his 
heavenly Father i'<>r this great deliverance. Hut, said he, 
dear friendflj there will yet something come to pass, if my 
feelings have not deceived me. that will more fully try our 
foundation." 

Thomas Shillitoe, near his close, Baid: "Oh, let it be 
known, thai I contend to the last, with unremitting confi- 
dence and assurance, for the second coming of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ, to the saving of the soul. Oh ! 
what should I have been now, if I had not submitted to 
J lis baptism, the baptism of fire?" The prophesies and 
testimonies of these deeply experienced, faithful, and 
therefore dignified servants, are, in my apprehension, 
A\or thy of credence. 

When in the neighborhood of the former, I heard enu- 
merated many prophetic declarations which he was heard 
to utter, which were unfailingly fulfilled; and the present 
aspect of things fully indicates the approaching fulfilment 
of the prediction above recited 

In dear love to all my true friends, 

I am, &c, 

JOHN WlLUUR. 



From T. B. G. to Peleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 7th of 3d mo., 1810. 
My dear and faithful Friend: 

... I thought I was sufficiently afflicted when I last 
wrote (and 1 think I hinted at it), but thine of the 24th 
nit . reached me under a much keener baptism of suffer- 
ing. The reflection that I had been unfaithful to thee, 
only added trouble to my sorrow. I was not in a state to 
write when I thought to do so: as G. Fox said, when one 
of the priests advised him to sing psalms ; lie said, he was 
not in a condition to sing ! Indeed 1 am sensible that I 
am a miserable correspondent every way. I almost marvel 
that I ever commenced such a work, though nooneenjo\< 



] B W.] THOMAS B. QOl u>. 185 

the letters from his friends better than I do, I am fully 

ded; at least when [ can enjoy anything. Howev< 
1 do not want to be misunderstood: it is not from any 
attack made upon me by the archers, that I have been thus 
depressed, neither has it been from any particular appre- 
hension of anything of that sort. I have been remarkably 
clear of forebodings as it respects myself, of late; and 
though I cannot say, perhaps, that i feel resigned to what- 
r of that ><>rt may be permitted to come upon me, yet 
1 can almost Bay that I feel at the present time nearly 
indifferent to it, except some faint desire that L may be 
helped through it, bo as m»t to dishonor the great ami ir< >< ><l 

cause. I cannot >pcak of anything beyond a "faint <le- 

>ire" at present, although lean well remember having had 
Btrong ones; for I seem to he "like the heath in the 
desert," or the pelican in the wilderness. The bare recol- 
lection of former experiences (as thou wilt freely admit) 
will not do to trust in or speak from. Whether this dis- 
pensation is preparatory to further service, or still greater 
Buffering, I am not able to say. The first does not seem 
at all probable ; and if time should make manifest, as it 

respects the last, it is at present hidden from me 

Thomas B. Gould. 



Extract of a Letter from T. B. G. to 



13th of third month, 1840. 

My dear Friend : 

Thine of the first was duly received on the fourth of the 
present month. I do not know how it could have been 
more gratefully received, but I do know that I shall not 
be able adequately to express the satisfaction we all feel, 
in the evidence afforded us of the remarkable manner in 
which way has been made for thy dear father [J. W.] to 
fulfil his nii.-sion anions: the too generally benighted sons 
and daughters of a highly favored, though degenerated 
and revolting people, to whom the mournful language of 
the prophet seems truly applicable, "0 Israel, thou hi 
destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help !" It does seem 
to be a renewed evidence that He is still graciously dis- 



136 LI IK AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

posed to help this people; inasmuch as he is engaging, 
requiring, and moving His servants to visit them, and to 
call unto them, — not out of Seir, the mount of Esau, 
where the scorner stood formerly, as they do now who 
cry, M Watchman, what of the night?' 1 — but out of /ion, 
the Lord's holy mountain, where the Lord setteth 1 lis 
watchmen, and oommissionetfa them, by his owii power 

and Spirit, with great authority, to declare what they E 

in Bis Light, both concerning the " morning, and also the 

night' 1 in which the treacherous dealer hath dealt so very 

treacherously, and the spoiler hath so grievously spoiled 

(even sonic of the vines upon which were tender grapes); 
and to say unto them, "If ye will inquire, inquire ye : 

return ; conic ;" for — u why will ye die!" 

From T. B. G. to John Wilbur, 

10th of fifth month, 1840. 
.... I cannot divest myself of the fearful persua- 
sion, that they will either be permitted to trample upon 
me and grind me to powder, or that I shall be left to do 
or say something that will injure that blessed cause and 
testimony which I have in times past ventured in a very 
small degree to espouse, though never to any greater de- 
gree than just to bring up the rear of the hindermost 
of those ranks who were prepared and concerned to say, 
" Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of 
Jesse.' 1 And then, oh! then, I shall not only be left 
alone in this wide, unfeeling world, without even an old 
building to shelter me; but what is worse, shall have be- 
come reprobate concerning the faith and a good conscience, 
having made shipwreck of both ! And those Friends who 
have been favored to see the tottering and decayed state 
of the building (in which we have had and still have a 
joint interest, — our poor Society, I mean), — and whose 
unity and fellowship, even the unity and fellowship of the 
clear-sighted, the willing-hearted, and the living in Jeru- 
salem, 1 have ever desired and esteemed next to the imme- 
diate influence of divine love and power, and sweet com- 
munion with Him who dwelt in the bush, and has at 
Seasons visited my own soul — such as these, 1 feel fully 



18 10. ] THOMAS B. 301 LB, 187 

persuaded, will all forsake me, it", indeed, they have no1 
already (and some such I Buppose haye, to them- 
ulthough 1 cannot, upon ;i close self-examination, 
ein 1 have missed my way, other than on thai 
side which may be accounted for, and possibly claim Borne 
allowance, inasmuch as 1 am both naturally and spiritually 
io much weaker than other and ordinary men 

t. b. <;. 



To Pbleg Mitchell. 

tfcwFOBT, 1 -I tli of fifth month, 1840, 
Ml DIAB Fkikxd : 

I was absent from home three weeks lack- 
ing one day. I left home on second-day morning, the 
13th of fourth month, ami crossing the ferries to South 
Kingston, took the cars to the place of their nearest 
approach to the bouse of dear d. Wilbur, where he met 
me, and took me in his wagon to his home; and on fourth- 
day night we took the steamboat at Stonington, and 
reached the house of J. Wood in New York soon after 
sunrise on fifth-day morning : where we stayed, to mutual 
satisfaction I believe, till about the same time on sixth- 
day morning : when we left for Philadelphia, ami were 
favored to arrive there in Bafety about three o'clock that 
afternoon. John lodged at Thomas Kites, and I was 
very kindly received and entertained by my dear friends, 
I '. ami (r. \V. A large number of true-hearted and honor- 
able guests were at their house. Ezra Comfort, and his 
brother John, who is one of the most useful and clear- 
Bighted elders in that yearly meeting (as indeed Ezra is a 
minister), witli their children, lodged at C. W.'s, and a 
very large and precious flock of Comforts they are. J. 
W. was entirely silent throughout the yearly meeting, 
except in one of the sittings of the select meeting, and in 
the public meeting on fifth-day at the Western district 
house, which is mostly composed of Gurneyites ; here lie 
had some close service, and that noted woman from the 
Cape, A. J). \V., undertook to answer it, as I was told, 
for I was not present. 

12* 



138 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

Groat was the joy to the honest-Hearted to 
have John among them, and the fullest satisfaction waa 
expressed by those of the highest Btanding and clearest 
vision and judgment, as 1 had abundant opportunity to 
know, both in public and private ; and I am satisfied, no 
other person could have gone from this yearly meeting, 

who would have heen so acceptable. One elder, the 

mother of Ezra Comfort, and a very aged, clear-sighted 

Friend, though too far advanced to get out, was led to 
intercede that he might he sent over to help them, and 
afterwards, without outward information (as I under- 
stood), had a sense he would come. On first-day, after 
the yearly meeting closed, he attended the North meeting 
in the morning, and Arch Street meeting in the afternoon. 
The last was a Beason of Buffering and oppression, and he 
had hut a short testimony, just at the close, which however 
met the sense, and was in unison with the feelings, of the 
rightly-exercised. In the first, he was raised up early, and 
largely opened, both in testimony and supplication : and 
such was the victory which truth wrought through its own 
power, that no strange voice was heard; which was to 
the great comfort of Friends, both on truth's account and 

on John's ; for as and were there also, a fear 

was entertained by many Friends, who have a clear sense 
and understanding of the state she is in at present, that 
she would anticipate him and block up his w r ay ; as she is 
clearly seen to be in that forward, active spirit, so common 
in many who are called ministers amongst us now; and by 
which forwardness and creaturely activity, the pure streams 
of life are much obstructed, if not turned aside from their 
due course: and so there is a sad and continued witnessing 
in spirit, of the wells, which those of the true seed of Abra- 
ham and Jacob have digged, being filled up by their ene- 
mies ! But she was on this occasion silent, and it was 
truly a solemn and favored season. 

lint alas, for the general state of the ministry and 
eldership amongst us ! However, there is a living spring 
kept open in both respects, in that yearly meeting, of 
which Ave were favored with renewed evidence, in divers 
instances. Still it was thought by ample judges, to have 



L840.] IHOMAfl B. QOULD. 

d i time of oppression, and even more bo than lasl 
r, both in the public meetings and in the meetings for 

business : t In >u url» tin* latter part of the closing sitting was 

i • i . 

remarkably owned. Dear Jacob Green had predicted, on 
the opening of the meeting, on second-day morning, thai 

it would he so at the close; and now he had to return 

living vocal praises, for that tin 4 Master of all rightly 
gathered assemblies had magnified His word above all His 
name, be. 

We left the city early on second-day morning, by rail- 
id, for Bristol, Pennsylvania, about twenty miles: where, 
by appointment, a Friend met us with his carriage, and 
took as about six miles further, to his house, where we 
lodged that night; and the next day the same Friend, 
James Moon, took us to the house of Christopher Healy, 
where we stayed till the next sixth-day morning, making 
and receiving many social and long-to-bc-rememhered visits 
from Friends in that neighborhood. John also attended 
both their seleet and mid-week meetings, at the Falls, or 
Falsington, of both which C. II. and J. M. and wife are 
members. 

We reached New York on sixth-day afternoon, and in- 
tended to come home the same night ; but John finding 
D. Wheeler had arrived, and was very ill at J. C.'s, did 
not feel easy to pass on without attempting to see him ; 
and as there was no boat till seventh-day night going round 
the Point (Judith) to Newport, I concluded to wait, and 
did accordingly, and after a fine run, reached home on 
first-day morning. But it served no other purpose than 
for John to clear himself; for the family would not suffer 
J. W. and John Wood to see him. After several fruitless 
attempts, J. Wilbur went alone, and urged it much, as he 
was writing to England by a packet just ready to sail from 
New York. He was then permitted to go to his chamber 
door, and look upon hint while he was asleep, but on his 
rousing up a little, was taken immediately away, for fear 
D. W. would recognize him ! From what I saw when I 
was in that house, he appeared to be surrounded with at- 
tendants who must be anything but satisfactory, unless, 
like some others, he has been leavened into the likeness of 



1 10 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

the company he keeps ; for truly there is something in the 
very air such breathe, and they claim him Btoutly. It may 
be that he has been laboring with them for their outgoings, 
in order thai they may be restored, and that they claim 
him only for an effect. I do greatly desire this may prove 
to be the case, and that, if he should be raised up again, 

he will come out in a (dear, hold, and undeviating testi- 
mony against them, not giving them even that kind of 
reason to claim him, which is afforded by his keeping their 
company. Me., as heretofore. And truly I cannot doubt, 
if he and others had only come out as clearly and boldly, 
in private and on all occasions, against this thing, as Ann 
Jones did against Hicksism, that their company would 
have been as unacceptable to them as hers was to the 

Hicksites 

Thomas B. Gould. 



1840.] THOMAS B. OOULDi 1 11 



(II A PTEB III. 



During the early part of the year 1S4<>, Thomas I>. 
Gould's mind was frequently introduced into great eon* 

flict and exercise, not Only from tlie distress occasioned to 

his peculiarly sensitive feelings by the continued attempts 
to undermine his religious standing, on the part of those 
who could not hear his firm testimony against innovation ; 
but also from the deep baptisms and sore travails of spirit 
with which he was now visited, preparatory to his coming 
forth in public testimony as a minister of the Gospel. 
These were of a searching and humiliating nature, bring- 
ing him often very low before the Lord, and tending rc- 
newedly to divest him of self-dependence, and reliance on 
anything short of the power and wisdom of Him who hath 
the key of David, and who is alone worthy to open the 
seven seals. 

It is evident from many of his letters, that his mind 
had long been preparing for such a service ; and indeed in 
a private way he may be truly said to have been a preacher 
of righteousness from his childhood. But now r , as the 
time approached for a more public line of labor, even in 
the congregations of the people, the baptisms and exer- 
cises seemed sometimes almost as close as nature was able 
to bear. Yet divine Goodness was near throughout, sus- 
taining his soul, and renewing his faith in the mercy and 
goodness of the Ancient of days ; and he was at length en- 
abled to come forth in a clear and lively testimony, to his 
own great relief and peace, and to the satisfaction and com- 
fort of the honest-hearted. His first public appearance 
a minister was about the close of the fifth month, 1840, in 
his own meeting at Newport. Some of his feelings on the 



142 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

occasion were a little portrayed in a letter written soon 
after to his dear fatherly friend, John Wilbur. The sub- 
Btance of his testimony on that occasion, aa near as can 
now be gathered, was as follows: 

11 Behold, the day cometh that shall hum as an oven ; 
and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be 
Stubble: and the day that eonieth shall burn them up, 
saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither 
root nor branch. J>ut unto you that fear my name, shall 
the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings; 
and ye shall go forth, and grow up as ealves of the stall. 
And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall he 
ashes under the soles of your feet. The zeal of the Lord 
of hosts shall perform this. For thus saith the Lord, I 
will work a work in those days, at the hearing of which, 
both the ears of them that hear it shall tingle: for I will 
dry up the green tree, and cause the dry tree to flourish ; 
I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the 
midst of the valleys. These things will I do for my seed's 
sake, for my chosen. Therefore, thou afflicted, tossed 
with tempests and not comforted, behold I will lay thy 
Stones with fair colors, and thy foundations with sapphires ; 
I will make thy windows of agate, thy gates of carbuncles, 
and all thy borders of pleasant stones/' 

From T. B. G. to John Wilbur. 

Newport, 1st of Gth mo., 1840. 

My dbab Fribnd : 

I wrote to thee soon after quarterly meeting, earnestly 
requesting thee to give me some account of what was 
done there, but I received no answer. At the time I 
wrote, I was under an exceeding deep and sore baptism ; I 
Can say in truth, that the earth with its bars was round 
about me, and the weight o{' mountains upon me : the weeds 
Were wrapt about my head, and I seemed plunged as into 

the very belly of hell ! Thy not writing added to my afflic- 
tion. . . . Having nevei-. al the time I wrote, been 
90 deeply tried before, no doubt my letter portrayed a 

state comparable to that of a bullock unaccustomed to the 



18 10. ] THOU ua b. aoi u>. 1 18 

yoke; and my dependence on maanol being completely 
broken up (which was the end, 1 fully believe, the divine 

jdom had in view, in permitting bo close a trial), thy 
not writing would seem sufficient to add greatly ther< 

Bui 1 qom see, 1 have cause to be thankful thou 
didst no! write, inasmuch as the undeniable evidence of 
divine regard, which has since been, in adorable mercy, 
vouchsafed, and which, both in degree and extent, has far 

reeded anything I ever before experienced, has been 
enhanced in value and clearness by it ; blessed forever be 
that worthy name and power of the Lord, who, as Buffer- 
ings and tribulations for the sec!'- Bake abounded, in his 

own due and appointed time, did eau>e the consolations of 
the Gospel much more to abound : to his praise alone he it 
Spoken, and let all iloh he Silenced and laid in the dust 

forever ! 

For several days previous to our monthly meeting, I 
had been trying what in me lay, to devise some business, or 

frame some excuse to leave the Island, so as to avoid 
being at the meeting; but my health had become so much 
impaired, that that alone would have rendered it improper, 
if I had eventually dared to do so; which as it drew near, 
I durst not hazard, though my fears and distress were as 
great as ever, and I was so reduced in health and strength, 
that it was with much difficulty and in great weakness that 
I went to the meeting, and sat in it until near the close of 
that for worship; when the Lord's light, and invincible 
power, did spring over all the powers of darkness, and his 
Word sounded in the ear of my soul, saying, " The trea- 
cherous dealer hath dealt very treacherously, and the 
spoiler hath grievously spoiled : but flee thou unto the 
strong hold, thou prisoner of hope !" And immediately I 
did feel myself marvellously strengthened, both inwardly 
and outwardly, and to such a degree, that had the adver- 
saries and enemies been as strong as Samson, as groat as 
( roliath of Gath, and as numerous as the " host of Midian," 
I should not have been afraid of them, seeing the lan- 
guage to me was, " Go in this thy might;" and it was 



)ugh ! 



The next day (which was sixth-day, the 29th of fifth 



144 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

month) in the afternoon, while my hands were engaged in 
my usual avocation, my mind was Bweetly and powerfully 
attracted and drawn inward, to the source and centre of 
all heavenly consolation and divine illamination ; and as 1 
yielded to that power which overshadowed me, the ap- 
proaching yearly meeting was opened before me, and 
things which shall (if faithfulness is only abode in) most 

surely come to pa-s. were seen with the eye of faith 
( which was opened by the pure power) as clearly as ever 
the ran was Been with the outward eye at noonday. Yea, 
1 saw the tents of Cushan in affliction, and the curtains of 
the land of Midian did tremble ! . . . After being 
thus wrapt up in the heavenly vision, — and to such a de- 
gree that I was in some douht for a time, whether I was in 
the body or out of the body, it was so clear and so bright; 
though the doubts I had in the above respect sprung more 
from the marvellous nature of the things I saw, than from 
any consciousness of mental aberration, for I was perfectly 
sensible what I was about, and fully aware of everything 
around me, and my mill, going with much speed, required 
attention, and had it as fully as at any other time (which, 
I believe, was permitted to be so, or rather vouchsafed 
under such circumstances, in order that I might be sure I 
was not beside myself); — I say, after a time, the vision 
seemed to close up, and 1 fell into a train of reasoning. 
]>ut, then, I can say in truth, and with a good 
understanding and experience of what I do say, an horror 
of great darkness fell upon me, even darkness as great as 
the light had been brilliant : and I felt such a stop in my 
mind, and so forcibly forbidden to reason upon it, — I mean 
upon what I had seen and what they would do, — that I 
Could do no other than forbear, which I did, and then the 
whole thing opened again upon me, and even with greater 
clearness than before; which continued for some time, 
gradually closing up, until the most remarkable features 
had disappeared, and only a sense and recollection of it 

remained, attended however with a sweet savor and abiding 

assurance Of the reality of those things which I had seen 
and heard: indeed it left a dew upon my spirit which lias 
not yet wholly dried up; and I was not left without in- 



1840. | TIIn.MAS I'- «.«»! I i». l 15 

Btruction whal to keep to myself and whal to open to 
otli I! as when and \\n\\ to open it : althougl I 

did -lie things which were ii«»« to be uttered ;it all, 

' a( present. 

Thou mays! an I'll snppose H musl have occupied much of 
m v attention since ; and Indeed it has. though I can assure 
thee, it has been of too solemn and important a kind t<» fly 
out in words. From these I have indeed been much re- 
strained, except when renewedly opened, oh! the pre- 
ciousness of the experience of being kept by tin 1 Shepherd 
Israel in the low valleys where the dew lies long, and 
of lying down by tin- side of the still waters, where nothing 
can hurt or make afraid . I have been too much a stranger 
to this. I feel it so. I also now feel and taste the sweet- 
a of it. 

Last first-day morning, the 31st, as I was preparing to 
to meeting, my mind was again ?ery powerfully over- 
shadowed with heavenly good, and also forcibly turned to 
the Bubject of the last page of the enclosed sheet, and 
those things which arc 1 now acting upon the stage of our 
Society: and as I viewed it in the light of truth, — for 
such I knew what I saw and felt, to be — yea, I knew it to 
be the light of truth, by its own demonstration and clear- 
ness, — the Lord was pleased to give me a sign and pledge, 
that those things which I had seen should surely come to 
pass; and it was fully equal to Gideon's fleece, and has 
been since as signally fulfilled and redeemed. This is all 
I can say about it at present, or rather, all I think it right 
to say, though a deal might be said, and a volume written. 
It [the meeting] was truly a remarkable time, 
wherein the glorious Lord was pleased to be a place of 
broad rivers and streams, and to exalt his own name and 
power over and above all the powers of darkness, for His 
seed's sake ! And my faith is firm that He will yet more 
and more arise, and plead His own cause, and that, too, 
through such mean and weak instruments, that the praise 
and the honor and the glory shall be wholly ascribed unto 
Him who is alone worthy, worthy, worthy of the praise of 
his own works, forever and ever ! 

I made out, with great difficulty, to get down to meeting 

13 



146 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [184<>. 

in the afternoon, but was unable to sit the meeting through ; 
neither indeed did I expect to when [went, but thought it 
I esl to go (in which I had peace), and have been confined 
to the house ever since, except thai on second-day morning 

I went to the mill : being willing if possible to work, or at 
least to manifest a disposition, for the cause 1 sake, and l< 
it should Buffer by my not being there; as the eyes of the 
people, within and without, were increasingly upon inc. 
Had it been an ordinary occasion, I should not have gone, 
and as it was, I could not stay. Indeed I have been very 
nincli reduced in my bodily health, by the uncommon ex- 
ercises which I have had to pass through; but my mind 
has been preserved in a perfect calm ; and peace and quiet- 
ness have reigned there, to a degree never before experi- 
enced. This has been spread as a canopy over me, and I 
can say that I have u sat under His shadow with great 
delight, and His fruit has been sweet to my taste," and 
His countenance comely to look upon, yea, the cliiefest 
among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. 

Now, my dear friend, I do not pretend to say how it lias 
been or is with thee at present, hut I can say that it is in 
the cross to my natural inclination that I have spread 
these things before thee. I would gladly have been ex- 
cused from it, but could not, for some reason or other, 
led easy to refrain from giving thee these hints of what 
has happened here, being fully persuaded thou art no 
•• stranger in Jerusalem,' 5 neither at all ignorant of the 
exercises through which all her children, even the least, 
are led, seeing she is the mother of all the living. But I 
believe there is reason to lift up the head in hope, that her 
borders will be lengthened, and her stakes strengthened; 
and however dark and gloomy the night may have been, 
and is, I am persuaded that it is far spent, and the hidden 
things of darkness will be brought to light, and the naked- 
neSS of those who have lifted up their heels against the 
Lord and His anointed. His chosen, will be discovered, 
and their heels made bare. For He will arise, and scatter 
and confound His enemies. But there must be no flinching 
or manoeuvring on our part ; that will be going over to 
their ground, which is enchanted ground. They have been 



18 M. | THOMAfl B. QOtJLD. 1 17 

Beeking enchantments, and unto those who have familiar 
spirits, and are astrologers and soothsayers. Bui the Lord 
will make their diviner- mad ! STea, H-- will frustrate the 

.m< and the tokens of liars, and turn the counsel "i" 

Ahithophel into Foolishness 

T. B. Gould. 

EXTRACT FROM A LSTTBB PROM T. V>. <J. TO . 



I am decidedly <»r the opinion that an indis- 
criminate disclosure of the exercises and trials that are 
permitted to come upon us, ought to ho avoided by all 
moans ; a- I can testify, from woful experience, to the 
poverty and leanness that it brings upon the poor mind 
that has fallen into the error. Nevertheless, as a liberty 
and freedom is felt, under the guidance of truth, to open 
t<» those that are prepared, by a similar course of experi- 
ence, to feel ami to enter into suffering with them that are 
bound, as bound with them, and them that suffer affliction, 
as being also of the body, here, I believe, is the patience 
and the fellowship of the saints; here the advantages of 
religious society are realized; here the ability to bear one 
another's burdens is emphatically felt; and it is often very 
beneficial to the parties ; it is frequently a means of build- 
ing up the feeble members of the body (the church) ; and 
by introducing those that are stronger into this suffering, 
into this exercise, and this patience, is a means of keeping 
them low and humble, under the weight of their sufferings; 
and so the great work is promoted, to the praise of the great 
Head. But there are those that have indulged in it for 
want of willingness and patience to bear the allotted por- 
tion of labor ; who have 1 believe been wisely prohibited [in 
consequence thereof] from partaking of the benefits of this 
fellowship 

To George F- Reap. 

Newport, 7th month, 17th, 1^40. 
My dear Friend : 

The times surely call for great watchfulness 

and care, for they arc evil ! I greatly desire for myself 



1 18 LIFE AM) letters OF [1840. 

and for Friends everywhere, that we may be preserved on 
the unchangeable Foundation; that so, although Btorms 
and tempests, both from within and without, may beat 
vehemently upon us, the building may stand; yea, that 
we may be kepi by the eternal power of God through faith 
unto Balvation, and livingly know, and richly experien 
through the abundant mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Lord of glory, even while here below, that 
although our earthly house Bhould be dissolved, we have a 
building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens, and which fadeth not awav ! And thus having 
an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, we shall be 
able to "endure hardness as good soldiers, 91 to fight the 
good fighl of faith, under our un conquered Captain; and 
not be driven about by every wind of doctrine, nor yet 
taken by the snares and "cunning craftiness of men who 
lie in wait to deceive." and who, "if it were possible, 
would deceive the very elect. " as said the apostle. 

With much love. I am, as ever, thy sincere and affec- 
tionate friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



From T. B. G. to 0. W 



Newport, 2d of 9th mo., 1810. 

.... Truly some of us on this part of the Lord's 
footstool, have had sufficient employment to " possess their 
souls in patience," and also great cause to cry mightily 
unto Him who hath His way in the sea, and his path in 
dee]) waters, even the waters of affliction, and whose foot- 

ps are not known, that He, in His mercy and for 
1 1 is truth'- sake, would be graciously pleased to strengthen 
and enable us steadfastly to refuse to sell, or to exchange 

for another, that vineyard which is our birthright, "the 

inheritance of our fathers. 15 Many there are. who give 

sorrowful evidence of being governed hy the same spirit 

that ruled in Ahab, of whom it was declared, that he not only 
walked in the sins of Jeroboam (who caused Israel to sin), 
hut that he " did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel 
to anger, than all the kings of Israel that were before him." 



184". ] THOMAS B, QOl i.i'. 1 19 

And this is not all, for they practise literally upon the 
counsel of wicked Jezebel <1 Kings, 21 i 7. B, 9, LO), 
and openly Buffer and encourage her to teach and seduce 
the people Rev. - : 20 ), calling her a true prophetess, &c, 

W9M tiic case in Thyatira ; and like Borne in the church 
of Pergamos, they "hold the doctrine of Balaam, who 
taught Balak to casl stumbling-blocks before the children 

[srael, and to eal sacrifices unto idols. 1 Bui there are 
b few name- preserved, even in this, our modern Bardis, 
who have not defiled their garments; although they are 

clothed as in Sackcloth, and can but lament day and night 

for the -lain of the daughter of the Lord's people, and so, 
if in no other way, hear witness against the abomination 
which is making desolate this portion of his vineyard, and 
standing where it cu-lit not to stand. 

Did not the Lord's prophet say, "The vineyard of the 
L<>rd of hosts is the house of [srael, and the men of Judah 
are His pleasant plant ; He looked for judgment, but be- 
hold oppression, for righteousness, but behold a cry" — a 
vain and empty cry, of, The temple of the Lord, the tem- 
ple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these ! while 
the Lord is not among them ? Our ears arc constantly 
annoyed with this, in substance at least; and as for true 
judgment, it " is turned away backward, truth has fallen 
in the streets, and equity cannot enter !" It is those who 
have been considered, and now consider themselves, leaders 
of the people, that cause them to err, and destroy the way 
of the paths, removing the ancient landmarks of the good 
old way in which the fathers walked ; introducing new 
things, which neither we nor our fathers have known, and 

setting up a separate altar — a will-worship, which is as 
truly idolatry as that calf-worship was, which Jeroboam 
up, lest, if the people went to Jerusalem to worship, 
their hearts should turn away from him to the king of 
Judah. And when any are raised up to prophesy against 
it, then the priests which they have made say, there is 
disaffection to the government, conspiracy against the 
rulers, elders, ^c., and the land is not able to bear all 
their words : yea, even as Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, 
said to Amos, " 0, thou seer, go, flee thee away into the 

1 ■ ! :- 



I5fl LIFB AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

land of Judah, and prophesy there; but prophesy no more 
again at Bethel, for it is the king's chapel, and it is the 
king's court !" But they seem insensible that every hand 
which has been put forth to Bet up, or raised to defend, a 
separate altar, is and must be withered; and that may 
account at mice for their being unable to draw it in again, 
ami for <>ur refusing to regard it as living, which is the 
only binding authority, under the pure and spiritual dis- 
pensation oi the I rospel 

Oh, Charles, 1 hardly know how to part with you, even 
on paper (for it seems as if I must include you all) ; the 
very satisfactory and instructive hours spent with you seem, 
while I am writing, almost realized again. If it be weak- 
ness, 1 frankly acknowledge it ; I would not attempt to 
conceal the emotion which 1 deeply feel : and if we never 
meet again in time, I do most fervently desire that neither 
heights nor depths, principalities nor powers, things pre- 
Bent nor tilings to come, nor any other creature, may ever 
be able to separate us from Him who, as Ave keep His com- 
mandments and abide in his love, will, I doubt not, in His 
own time, present us faultless before the presence of His 
glory with exceeding joy. Farewell. 

Thomas B. Gould. 

To Etiian Foster. 

Newport, 21st of 10th mo., IStO. 

Well, my dear friend, may it be our chief 

concern to cleave to that which shows us the true state of 
things. Then may Ave have a well-grounded hope that 
preservation will be vouchsafed, amidst all the trials which 
may be permitted to at tend us, iii our passing along through 
time: and although Israel may be Carried away captive, 
even into the enemy's land, yet the Lord will have a rem- 
nant there. Oh ! I am often comforted in reading, and 
also in the renewed remembrance of the trials and suffer- 
ings which the .Lord's prophets endured, who testified 
faithfully against the abominations committed among the 
children of Israel according to the flesh; inasmuch as it 

goes far to show that no new thing has happened to those 

who now Buffer. k * So persecuted they the prophets which 



1840, ] THOMAS B. GOULD. 151 

were before you/ 1 Baid our divine Master to Ili^ discipl< 
when he forewarned them of the world's hatred. 

The enmity which was placed between the two seeds, 
immediately after the fall of our firs! parents, has been 
the same in all ages, though it has been manifested vari- 
ously, according to time and circumstances. And, as 
thou very justly remarket, they are not less the enemies 
of Truth who now pretend its authority, — indeed to be 

the only ] >T8 and expositors of it, — than those who 

in former times and ages, Bel up the Bame pretensions, 
walked in the same path, and manifested the same bitter 

fruits, even under a false name, persecuting the true seed. 
There is however this difference, time has made the first 
manifest ; and. as a shrewd and experienced, though per- 
secuted man, said to one of these modern persecutors of 

the life, "If time does not false] make these manifest, 
eternity will !" ... May we all be kept by the Lord's 
power, through faith unto salvation ! My faith is firm 

that WC shall be, if we are faithful 

Thy sure friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To Feleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 12th mo., 14th, 1840. 
My dear Friend : 

Dear E. P. had an appointed meeting in the 
evening here, which was a season of favor, and seemed like 
a brook by the way, in the midst of this dry and barren 
land ; though I feel inclined to acknowledge, and I do it 
with feelings of gratitude to Him who still " openeth rivers 
in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys," 
that we have of latter time been rcnewedly favored in this 
meeting, when no strangers were present, with a little help 
out of Zion. For He, by His ancient and new power, 
hath been graciously pleased in a remarkable manner to 
fulfil His word: "He hath dried up the green tree, and 
caused the dry tree to flourish ;" and I am more and more 
convinced that He will yet redeem us out of all our trou- 
bles, and deliver as from under the hands of those who 



152 Lin: and LETTERS OF [1841, 

oppress as; and that u saviours shall stand upon Mount 
Zion, to judge the mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall 
be the Lord's." . . . But as we arc favored to keep 
in the "quid habitation/' we Bhall, 1 am fully persuaded, 

in tlio Lord's duo and appointed time, witness the fulfil- 
ment of His ancient promise: k *A^ birds Hying, so will 
the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem ; defending also He 
will deliver it. and passing over. He will preserve it." . . 

Thy sincere friend, 

T. B. Gould. 



To John Wilbur, 

Newport, 21th of 2d mo., 1841. 
My dear Friend : 

Her [Sophronia Page's] testimony had been 
(lear. sound, searching, powerful, and prevalent indeed, 
and truly remarkable in reaching the states of some, of 
whom she could not have been informed by man. The 
meeting was large, by the procuration of some who had 
taken her under their care; but things were laid open in 
such a manner, that there is much reason to believe they 
sincerely repented having contributed so largely to their 
own exposure : for her concern lay with the lost sheep of 
the house of Israel; and circumstances of later time ren- 
dered it easy for those who, while they arc not members, 
usually attend meetings, and can distinguish between the 
living and the dead, to understand and apply what she 
said with great power and authority, about the famine in 
this place, "not." said she, "of bread nor of water, but 
of hearing the word of the Lord!" The meeting ended 
well, in Bolemn supplication, which terminated in praise 
and thanksgiving from prepared hearts and renewedly bap- 
tized spirits. But how shall I sei forth the favors vouch- 
safed in the afternoon meeting, early in which she stood up 
with nearly these words : *• It is a \ ery serious consideration, 
and one which is worthy of more than a passing thought, 
that all our actions, and even our most secret designs and 
intentions, are naked and open in the eye> of Him with 

whom we have to do!" She then proceeded to search out 



1841.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 158 

and lay opeD the hidden things of dishonesty, and of Esau, 
in such a manner as I have never before heard ; des< 
the double-minded man as being unstable in all hie 

I boldly declaring that the -inner- in Zion were afri 
ami that fearful ne ss would more ami more surprise tin- hy- 
pocrite. To all BUch she Bpake with a voice Of thunder, of 

which they seemed to he sensible. Bu1 she was in an emi- 
nent degree a daughter of consolation to an afflicted ami a 
poor people, whose peculiar trials and afflictions she was 

enabled to portray with a degree of skilfulness and accu- 
racy, which plainly showed that it eame from Ilim who, as 
<i. Fox used to say, is indeed the Original. What she 
said about the preparations which had been made to wage 

a war of extermination upon this poor ami despised rem- 
nant, was exceedingly cutting to the usurpers. Nor was 
it less remarkable, that she should have declared how seri- 
ously the former had been led to consider, how they, being 
few. fee., should be able to contend with so much of 
power and authority as was arrayed against them, to all 
outward and human appearance ; but added, " The Lord 
shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace, — stand 
still, and see the salvation of God," &c. Two kinds of 
ministry were largely spoken of as existing among us, and 
clearly and fully distinguished. I have given thee but a 
very short and imperfect sketch of a long testimony, which 
it required more than an hour to deliver; — to attempt to 
speak of the life and power attending it, would be una- 
vailing, or of the awfulness of the pause which inter- 
vened ; — when one who was sensible of it had something 
like a seal to set to what had been delivered ; soon after 
which the dear Friend appeared in solemn supplication, 
very short and full, near access being mercifully granted. 
Then, a longer period of silence than usual ; — and, al- 
though it had been a remarkable time from the very com- 
mencement of the meeting, yet in the conclusion it might 
have been said, " The Lord's power was over all !" 

I believe it was right that all our friends were 
silent lookers on to-day. But do tell thy wife, that I am 
not aware of having lost any part of my interest in the 
success of the good cause. I can feelingly acknowledge 



lf>4 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF [1841. 

that I have nothing to boast of; to me belongeth only 
blushing and confusion of face ; and if that cause could be 
promoted through bo poor a creature as an instrument, I 

do most sincerely desire that all the honor and all the 
praise may he ascribed unto Sim, who still is pleased at 

times to eall things that are not. as though they were 

Thy sincere friend, 

T. B. Gould. 



To Peleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 26th of 2d month, 1811. 
My dear Friend : 

He whose place of defence is the munition 

of rocks, must shake his hands from the holding of bribes* 
But did I say anything in that letter, which led thee to 
suppose that [considered "a dead letter ministry" " among 
the lesser features of Gurneyism?" I remember having 
used the latter expression somewhere in that letter; but 
if it was susceptible of such a construction, I am confident 
it must have been Owing to the looseness of my style, to 
the haste in which I wrote, or to incorrect punctuation; as 
I am sure I never entertained such an opinion, having been 
virtually prepared, long before the time of my writing to 
thee, very fully to adopt the expression of Richard Jordan, 
that "the distempers in the ministry (even in his day) 
were the greatest in the Church!" How much more em- 
phatically true and applicable is it then to these degene- 
rate times, which, it seems to me, would suffer almost or 
quite as much, by a comparison with those in which U. 
Jordan lived and labored, as would the chaff when com- 
pared with the u principal wheat." 

I can feelingly respond to what thou sayest about being 
more favored when met in select companies, than is gene- 
rally the case at Other times. And it is not strange that 
ii Bnould be bo: there is bo much of an opposing spirit to 

be felt iii BOme, yea, many, even when they do not show 

their true colors openly; surely the darkness and bitter- 
ness <»f their spirits is ><> great, that I have often thought 
of the ww two witnesses," and of their bodies lying dead, as 



1841.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 166 

it were in the streets of "the great city which spiritually 
is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was, 
and is, "crucified.' 1 I- there any question that one of 
these witnesses may be a living Gospel ministry! Bui 
Btill, "the Bpirit of life from God" does enter into th 
who are intrusted with thai gift, at times and seasons 
(which are all in His hand), and they are raised up to bear 
imony against those who had, to all human appearance, 
"overcome them and killed them,' 1 . . . they are raised 
u]), and enabled to "stand upon their feet." Then it is, 
that "great fear (alls upon them" who had "made merry" 
ever them, and sent gifts one unto another, during all the 
while the v had lain as it were dead: although their bodies 
were not suffered to he put into graves 

28th, first-day eve. 

As I do not recollect any other interrogatory in either 
of thy letters, and suppose that J. W. has before this given 
you on Nantucket a particular account how he fared at 
Providence, I will not undertake to make any extracts 
from his last very interesting letter to me ; but instead of 
it, I will make one from one since received from his son- 
in-law, my dear friend, Ethan Foster, of Westerly, because 
it will give you a view which I cannot doubt will be inte- 
resting, if not encouraging and which vou would not be 
likely to obtain from John himself. It is as follows, viz. : 
" We [Ethan and wife] have had a very interesting visit at 
father Wilbur's; found him cheerful, and I believe happy, 
compared with many of those once his friends, but now 
his accusers and opposcrs. Our meeting yesterday [they 
belong to Hopkinton meeting, though they live in Wes- 
terly], was an interesting as well as a comforting season. 
Our dear father was extensively engaged in testimony to 
the life and power of the Gospel, and to experimental 
religion, in which he was somewhat doctrinal ; illustrating 
with great clearness the Christian covenant as being two- 
fold, and that neither part can be dispensed with, without 
losing the benefit of the whole. lie dwelt at length on 
this point, with a degree of clearness and force which bore 
the impress of something far above human reason and 



156 LIFB ami LBTTBRS OF [1841. 

argument. The meeting Beemed much to enter into his 
feelings, and Bomewhat to travail with him in exercu 
Truth rose into dominion, and an evidence was mercifully 
afforded, that we arc not utterly forsaken, and however 
dark an'l gloomy the prospect may appear, that brighter 
days are ye1 to be experienced by those who possess their 
soul- in patience, and keep their ranks in righteousness. 
At the conclusion he appeared in supplication, in which 
he was evidently favored with near access to the tin-one of 
grace. 1 mention this, not that it is unusual for him to 
appear in testimony with the evidence of divine assistanc 
but this was one of those seasons of peculiar favor, when 
tlic waters increased, from a small stream, until they be- 
came a river to swim In, thoqgh of that description wherein 
tlurr goes do galley with oars, neither does gallant ship 
pass thereby." 

We had an acceptable and edifying visit from 

our dear friends, Enoch and Sophronia Page, of Salem, a 
week ago last first-day. They attended both meetings, in 
which Sophronia was largely and eminently engaged, both 
in testimony and supplication, especially in the afternoon 
meeting. I thought at the conclusion of the meeting, it 
might have been truly said, the Lord's power was over 
all! 

Believe me to be as ever thy warmly-attached friend, 

T. B. Gould. 



To Peleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 15th of 4th month, 1841. 
My dear Friend : 

Did I tell thee in my last, what an acceptable 

and truly remarkable visit we had from our dear friend, 

Sophronia Page, jusl before I left? I think her service 
in this meeting exceeded anything of the kind I ever wit- 
nessed. Why, Peleg, although she is not very old, she is 
worthy to be called a mother in Israel. Like Jael, "she 
put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the work- 
man's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera." 
Truly it might have heen said, "a$<0 let all thine enemies 



1841.] THOM Lfl B, GOULD. L67 

perish, oh Lord ! but lei them thai love Him be as the sun 
when I h forth in his might/ 1 

1 was grieved to hear that dear Mary Davi 
comraged to proceed in her prospect of attending Philadel- 
phia ly meeting. She would have been, 1 h. 
doubt, a wry acceptable visitor there. It does to 
Be, that if n<> one but poor A. S. objected t<» it. there must 
have been strength enough in thai select meeting t<> have 
overruled his objection, had the strength which some there 
possess, been used. What arc Friends afraid of? It -.'.in- 
to me, we have, in far too many instances, just given them 
the ground. Why, it is shameful to do so! Only think 
of the last yearly meeting; it was just bo there: there 

re Friends enough present, who felt no unity with his 
[.I. .1. Gr.'s] having that certificate, to have thrown the 
ranks of the aliens into confusion, if they had only come 
forth, ami manifested on whose Bide they were. And of 
what avail is it to be in the right, and to have light, if it 
he always hidden, always kept under a bushel ? Oh! it 

as to me, some have need that the pure mind in them 
should he stirred up ; they need to be reminded that who- 
soever is ashamed of their Lord, or of His cause, which is 
the same thing, of them will lie be ashamed before His 
Father and the holy angels. I desire that Friends may 
be encouraged to use what strength they have, in the Lord's 
time for service, lest, by neglecting to use it, it be taken 
from them, and be given to those who are faithful. Let 
them come forward in the true order of the Gospel; let 
them keep their ranks, and say, "Thine are we, David, 
and on thy Bide, thou son of Jesse.' 1 .... 

Thv sincere friend, 

T. B. G. 



From John Wilbur to T. B. G. 

Haras Cottage, 15th of fifth month, 1841, 

MY DEAR Tiro MAS I 

The many unavoidable engagements which have fallen 
to my share of attention since quarterly meeting, have 
thus far deterred me, until the present moment, from the 

14 



168 LIPl AND LETTERS OF [1841. 

pleasing task of responding to thy very interesting letter, 
in which thou Bpeakesi 01 thy visit to Philadelphia, &c. 
And truly pleasant and satisfactory was thy account of 
things which transpired at those places : and the Bweet 
remembrance, and good and living desires of my ever 
dear friends in those parts, did afford to my afflicted and 
often drooping spiril the halm of consolation : so that for 
a time I was almost prepared to thank God and take 

courage Vnd 1 trust thou knowest, Thomas, 

by living experience, that when we arc borne down with 
Borrow and affliction, with fear and trembling for the 
safety <>f /ion, and for the escape of our own souls, that 
many fears and apprehensions arc then ready to arise in 

our almost desponding minds 

Our dear friend, Prince Gardner, came home with us 
from Greenwich, and a very good visit we had from him. 
Be tarried three nights. lie and Andrew both a^ree in 
Baying, that one reason, if not the principal one, why the 
meeting for sufferings refused to enter into an examina- 
tion of t lie doctrines of J. J. (J., was, as they said, because 
the moraine meeting, or meeting for sufferings in London, 
had taken all his writings into consideration, in order for 
correction : but whilst 1\ (i. was here, a letter from A. 
J}. Barclay arrived, which put the question beyond all 
doubt, that no Mich thing had taken place in London. 
llawlinson says, that Joseph John attended their late 
quarterly meeting in London, and his preaching was so 
sail, that the elders, although his admirers, had enough to 
do to sit with proper decorum. 11. seems very desirous 
that some accredited body in this country should forward 
to one or the other of their authorized bodies, the objec- 
tions of sound Friends to the doctrines alluded to. I 
learn that the applications from myself, and from Nan- 
tucket, and from South Kingston monthly meeting, were 
civilly received and noted on the book, as relating tO doc- 
trines: but they pretended, in addition to the foregoing 

reason, that they were not authorized by discipline to 
examine books already printed or written by a member of 
another yearly meeting. Ami so it >eeins they have go1 
US last, that nobody has a right to refuse unsound publi- 






1841.] THOMAS B. QOtJLD. 159 

ions, withoul the leave of the meeting for Bofferii 
and they no right to decide whether L r «»<»«l or bad, after 
the impression of types, and the books offered for Bale! 
It* these things are bo, bow forlorn the condition of this 
people, in a day like this, when heterodoxy of prin- 
ciple is promulgated by the wise and the learned am< 
them ! 



John WlLBUR. 
From T. 1». Gr, to Ethan Foster. 

Steamboat Massachusetts, 22d of seventh mo., 1841. 
My in: a n FRIEND : 

I wrote 

to thy dear afflicted father soon after I received thine, 
at thy request ; though 1 feared it only served to ag- 
gravate his Bufferings ; but was rejoiced to gel a very 
kind letter from him last evening. ... I feel much 
for him in his manifold afflictions, even as much, I believe, 
as 1 am capable of feeling ; but I am always most miser- 
able at the expression of condolence. However, it lias 
seemed to me from the first, that there was and is much 
application to him in the language of Scripture : M Many 
are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will 
deliver him out of them all:" — and not to him only, but 
my mind has often, yea, very often, been drawn into very 
near sympathy with thy beloved mother ; all within me 
capable of feeling has been made to feel for her, not 
doubting that she is often ready to exclaim, " Surely 
there is no sorrow like mine !" Although no afflictions 
for the present may seem joyous, but grievous, neverthe- 
less they do yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness to 
those who are rightly exercised thereby ; and that she is 
one of this class, I have no more doubt, than that an 
entrance will, in the Lord's due and appointed time, be 
abundantly administered into that everlasting kingdom of 
rest and peace, where the wicked cease from troubling, 
where lie who was a man of sorrow.- and acquainted with 
grief is already entered ; and not only so, but He is 
graciously pleased to enable those who arc rightly cxer- 



160 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1842. 

cised by the afflictions which arise because of the word, to 
say at time- and seasons : " We <*» ih* exceeding joyful in 
all our tribulations/' and thus to give them a blessed fore- 
taste and earnest of the reward of the righteous 

Believe me to be, with love to all, 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 

On the 31st day of the eighth month, 1841, Thomas B. 
Gould was united in marriage, at the Northern District 
Meeting in the city of Philadelphia, to Martha Smith 
Bcroyd, a daughter of James and Martha Ecroyd, and 

formerly of Muncy, in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 
but then residing with her widowed mother in Philadelphia. 

From Sarah Hillman to Thomas B. and M. S. Gould. 

Philadklpiiia, 1st mo. 11th, 1842, 
Dear Friends, T. and M. Gould: 

If leisure and inclination for writing had combined with 
affectionate remembrance and desire for your prosperity 
and safe-stepping as on the "sea of glass," methinks ere 
this time many evidences had been received by you from 
my pen. But somehow I have little aptitude for writing; 
my talent never ran that way ; at school almost any other 
study was more pleasant. Nevertheless I can say I have 
you on my heart ; and often does my spirit greet you, in 
desire that the blessing of the Highest may be with you, 
that He would be pleased to give you those pure nether 
springs of Divine consolation, winch flow from His holy 
presence: and then, whether the north or the south wind 
blow upon your garden, the spices will flow forth, as accep- 
table incense to the Kins of kin^s. 

© © 

Many eyes are upon you, I am well aware. Ye had 
ooed be clothed with the whole armor of light, that neither 

Satan nor any of his ministers gain any advantage over 

you. Surely he will not be suffered to overturn the foun- 
dation. Dor to lay Waste the hope in the Lord Jesus, of one, 
not even the very least of the flock, and family, and house- 
hold of faith, so long as we keep hold of the shield. Ah, 



1 B 12.] THOU Lfi B. GOULD. L61 

no! "Our Redeemer ifl mighty, the Lord of hosts is His 
name/ 1 He Is beholding the tower which the children of 
men have been and are building; and I believe He has 
come down and confounded their language, so thai the wise 
Babel-builders understand not each other's language: and 
He is turning to His people a "pure language, and they 

shall all call upon His name, to serve Him With one COn- 

Bent." Surely "there is no enchantment against Jacob, 

neither is there any divination against Israel ;" but all these 
things have happened rather to the furtherance of the 
blessed Gospel of the dear Son of God, which at the first 
began to be spoken by Himself, and was confirmed unto 
us by them that heard Him, and is to this present day 
spoken by His own blessed Spirit in the hearts of His 
truly humble, true-born, simple-hearted, obedient little 
children. 

It seems to me that the day is coming, when all the 
proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; some 
that are puffed up and seem to be somewhat, but in con- 
versation add nothing to the true Israel, Avill be manifested, 
and the day shall declare them, and burn up all that will 
not stand the fire of purification ; while the remnant that 
is escaped will be found among the jewels, and spared to 
magnify the mercy, the long-suffering mercy, of Israel's 
unslumbering Shepherd. Truly can some of us adopt the 
language, " Lord, I am not worthy thou shouldst enter 
under my roof:" yet He has marvellously made bare His 
arm and helped us hitherto; and have we not at seasons 
cause to raise new Ebenezers to His praise? Though 
many afflictions await the righteous, it is no new thing ; 
the disciple need not expect to be above his Master : if he 
do, he will assuredly be disappointed. What was the path 
of the dear Son and Sent of the Father ? He fasted in 
the wilderness, He was with the wild beasts, yet angels 
ministered unto Him. And as surely as He was ministered 
to by angels, so surely the angel of His presence encamp- 
eth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them. 
Let us not then be found saying, " a confederacy," to all 
who would say, a confederacy ; but sanctify Him in our 
hearts, who lias revealed Himself secretly to us, whose 

14* 



162 LIFE AM> LETTERS OF [1842, 

love, whose mercy towards ns, has been and is infinite. 
I la- He not, dear Thomas, attracted thy soul towards Him 
in wry infant years, and amid many temptations kept 
thee to this day! JTes« For what? To make thee a 
minister and a witness, not only of what thou hast seen, 
bul also of those things in which He will appear to tie 
and 1 le h ill not no 1 ike tin 

Interrupted by a visit from Sarah Emlen and Edith 
Jefferis, who irere at meeting this morning, and mia 
tered t<> as. — Please tell thy Bister Lydia, I often remem- 
ber her kindness to us poor pilgrims, with that of thy dear 
father and mother; and desire their Bloping days may 
he cheered by the bright Bhining of the Sun of righteous- 
ness, whose 1 trust they are and will be till death: and 
then, never fear, — there is a glorious rest, a crown laid 
up, a house not made with hands prepared, into which their 
purified spirits, through unutterable love and mercy, will 
be admitted, and where the arrows of the archer can never 
Come. Till then, may we each fight the good fight of 
faith, that so Ave mav obtain ! Many talk much of faith, 
whose walk is not in the Bteps of faithful Abraham, who 
yet Btyle themselves children. What will they do, in that 
day when every covering. Bave that of "my Spirit, saith 
the Lord." shall be stripped oil": ... I must now 
conclude. With truest affection, your sincere, sympathiz- 
ing friend, in which my dear mother and sisters, with dear 
K. P.. unite. 

Farewell, says your friend, 

Sarah Hillman. 



From T. B. <». to Joseph Kite. 

Newport, 25th of 3d mo , 1842. 
We have recently been much comforted ami 
refreshed by a visit from dear John Wilbur, who spent a 

week with us and in the neighborhood, ami went home this 
day week. He seemed better in health than we expected 
to see him. and green and lively in spirit, weighty and 
powerful in doctrine, and clearly evincing that patience 



18 1-. ] 'M as b. QOUU). 163 

under Buffering, and resignation to whatever degree of it 
may be yet in Btore for him, which men may tali about 
and attempt to imitate, but can never realise or exemplify, 
unless really endowed with Sis Bpirit, who " was led as a 
Iamb to the slaughter," and when " He was reviled, reviled 
not again." John attended our meeting three times. In 
the first, on fifth-day, the LOth inst., he was silent ; but 
on first-day morning he was raised up early in the meet ing, 
with the language of the patriarch Jacob, while propheti- 
cally engaged in blessing the heads of the tribes of [srael : 
" I have waited for thy salvation, Lord I" — proceeding 
to show very clearly the necessity of bo waiting in all 
Bimilar engagements. And in the opening of large fields 
of doctrine before him, he seemed more especially led to 
-peak of worship and ministry, and to distinguish between 
the true and false in both instance-; having much en- 
couragement to offer to those who are baptized for the 
dead, ministering to the spirits that are in prison, speaking 
prophetically of their enlargement and deliverance, and 
that, as there was an engagement to tarry at Jerusalem 
until endued with power from on high, and to " wait for 
the promise of the father, which ye have heard of me," 
the number of these rightly exercised and divinely quali- 
fied ministers would be increased, and they should yet 
bear witness of Him to whom all power in heaven and on 
earth is given, "in Jerusalem, in Judea, at Samaria, and 
unto the uttermost parts of the earth." And immediately 
quoting the animating promise, 4c Lo! I am with you 
always, even unto the end of the world," he proceeded to 
show the absurdity of the idea, that there is any " falling 
off" from the perfection and adaptation of the Gospel to 
our every need, in these latter days ; but that the spiritual 
presence, guidance, and power of Christ, divine immediate 
revelation, &c, is still felt and enjoyed by His humble and 
obedient followers, and graciously offered unto all ; and 
that it was not because it had ceased or diminished in 
power and efficacy, but because men were not obedient 
thereto, and had not faith therein, that there were misgivings 
and unsoundness upon these points. This fell heavy upon 



L6J LIPB AND LETTERS DF f 1*42. 

some who Bai near him, whose actions show how lightly 
the undamental principles of unchangeable 

truth, and who no! unfrequently now dispense sage cauti< 
against deeply spiritual views, though generally coupled 
with far-fetched encomiums upon the character and writu 
of the early Friends, and high professions of a divine re- 
quiring to extend Buoh cautions. It requires no great de- 
gree of discernment, I the extremely ill grace with 
which such encomiums fall from the lips of these people, 

while they are actually, and with a furious though blind 
zeal, engaged in removing the landmarks, and lowering 
the standard, which our worthy predecessors were made in- 
strumental in Betting Up and exalting among the nation- : 
though I confess it requires more discernment than I am 
possessed of, to discover the foundation of their claim to di- 
vine requirement or commission for so doing. But I have 
digressed, a- I am very apt to do. 

These people treated John with more civility, and even 
apparent kindness, than is usual or might have been ex- 
pected, and the meeting separated under a very solemn 
Covering, Truth having the ascendency for that time at 
least. Indeed it had been a remarkably solid time from 
the commencement. One young woman, who happened to 
be there, habited in a full Buit of mourning, by profession 
an Episcopalian, though remotely descended from Friends, 

was remarkably tendered iii the course of his exercie 
ami seemed very reluctant to part with him after meeting. 
S<» also was her husband, who lias regularly attended all 
OUT meeting- since, though not accustomed to do so. . . . 

Oh. how much the tenderly visited, seeking people are 
to lie fell for! I often think, more especially so, when, 
instead of being instrumentally fed with bread through 
qualified breakers of it, b tones v serpents, and scorpions are 
poured out upon them. But there is much consolation in 
the conviction, that He who clave the rock for His chosen 
people formerly, while journeying outwardly in a desert 
land, and sent them bread from heaven, can now. and does 
give to \}\<)<o who hunger and thirst after righteousness, 
of the bread and water of life, freely and immediately. . . 



18 l_. ) THOMAS i i.!>. L65 

There is with most, Buch a Becrel pr< fei 

, and Buch an unw illingness to be id< at ifi< ft 
with a Bmall remnant, with u a despised and afflicted p< 
pie," thai we are likely, in the end, to be relieved of all 
who are nol willing to be truly religious. It is lament- 
able thai there Bhould be bo many who, in forming their 
conclusions respecting the truth of the case now m con- 
troversy, arc looking wholly at circumstances, and the 
decision of numbers, rather than to the witness for truth in 
themselves 

Sow many simple, honest-hearted Friends are favored 
with a sense of wrong things existing among us. bul instead 
of keeping to that which shows them their condition and 
the the church, they begin to look to those whom 

they consider more experienced than themselves; thus 
taking men for their guide, and opening their cars to hear 
them, they lose Bight of the true 'readier, fall behind the 
true Light, become involved in darkness and uncertainty, 
and finally get into the current, and are swept away by it. 

From T. B. G. to Peleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 7th month, 1842. 
My dear Friend, — 

.... Thou requested my opinion as to thy address- 
ing a letter to . Xow, my dear friend, I feel 

rather a delicacy in expressing one, but from my acquaint- 
ance with the man, and from the sense and judgment I 
have of his present state — just coming off, as Ave hope, 
from a misguided course, and emerging from under a 
cloud, with perhaps rather a galling sense of the steps 
taken therein, and the blocks over which lie has stumbled, 
which may not he entirely removed — it has seemed to me 
that it would he rather safer to defer it, at least for the 
present, as it might have an effect on him to the clear 
contrary from what was intended. I found my dear M. 
entertained the same opinion respecting it — and I supp< 
we have had rather more opportunity to judge of his feel- 



L66 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1842. 

ings an<l character than thyself. If he was able to bear 
it — it mighl do. But I cannot — I must not go into par- 
ticulars, and I trust thou wilt excuse what 1 have written, 
and also the freedom used in expressing my view of it. 

26th of 8th month. When thiswas commenced, I fully 
intended Bending it off the next day ; but was compelled 
to lay it aside, without the opportunity of resuming it till 
this morning. Our dear brother and sister Snowden with 
their children, have been spending Beveral weeks with us ; 
they left us the day before yesterday, for home. Their 
visit has been a great consolation to us. Brother Joseph 
and myself attended South Kingston monthly meeting last 
Becond day, from which thou wilt probably hear the par- 
ticulars ere this reaches thee. It was a sore thing to the 
committees, that divers members from other monthly meet- 
ings wore present, and witnessed their disorderly proceed- 
ings; though none of them took part in the business of 
the meeting, save our friend J. T. K. and his brother; 
upon which I). ]>. rebuked them, and cautioned them ami 
other friends there present in similar circumstances, from 
interfering; which was altogether unnecessary, so far as 
some of us were concerned — indeed there was no necessity 
for it, the South Kingston Friends being fully competent 
to manage the case themselves. Brother Joseph thought 
it could not have been more skilfully conducted anywhere 
or by anybody than it was by them, and they are mostly 
young men too; but they were evidently equipped for 
war, and ordered for battle, by Him who never yet was 
foiled therein, nor his armies put to flight ; though every 
expedient was resorted to, which the ingenuity and malice 
of the Evil ( hie could invent, to break their ranks and throw 
them into confusion : and after the report of the com- 
mittee [clearing John Wilbur from all censure] had been 
received and recorded in the men's meeting, R. G. and 
T. A. made three attempts by shaking hands, to close the 
meeting, while the report <>{' tbe committee was under con- 
sideration by the women — well knowing that if they could 
prevent tbe record of their unity with it. J. W. would not 
be restored. But these attempts were severally defeated, 
through tbe vigilance and promptness of some. 



1842.] rnoMAfl i . u». 161 

Aj bood as the meeting was opened, J, D., in the 
name and on the behalf of the quarterly meeting's com- 
mittee, made a long and incoherent Bpeech — pari threaten- 
ing, pan coaxing, part unintelligible, and therefore not to 
be interpreted by the common rules of language, but by 
the character of the man and the nature of Eifl office. 1 1*' 
was replied to by dear old T. II.. who is in the eighty- 

enth year of his age, and rode near twenty miles to 

. < < 

attend that meeting. He briefly went over the ground of 
the controversy with that monthly meeting, the proceed- 
ings of the yearly meeting's committee, the appointment 
of the committee of that monthly meeting to hear and 
decide th< . the appointment of the quarterly meet- 

ing's committee, fcc, — and then called for the reading of 
the report of the committee of their monthly meeting, as 
the best method of coming to an understanding of the 
state of the case ; which being united r itfa by other South 
Kingston Friends, the report was read, and united with by 
many Friends, But while they were expressing unity 
with it, II. B. presented a " minority " report, signed by 
himself and W. S. P. ; upon which two or three of the 
members of South Kingston monthly meeting, and divers 
of the two grand committees, commenced a desperate at- 
tempt to have the " minority report" read and considered, 
in order to throw them into confusion. It was argued on 
the part of J. Wilbur's friends, that this report was in- 
formal and improper to be read, inasmuch as those two 
disaffected and disorderly committee-men had been duly 
notified of the time and place of meeting, when the report 
led by seven of the committee had been agreed to. On 
the other side it was alleged, that six out of the seven, 
who had signed the report recommending the dismission of 
the case, were relatives of J. Wilbur, and the understand- 
ing was that they would not be impartial judges. There 
was a great deal said on both sides. They stated again 
and again, that the monthly meeting's committee had de- 
parted from the ground of the complaint, by allowing 
J. W. to go into an investigation of doctrines : and T. A. 
was very strenuous, repeatedly declaring that doctrines 
had nothing to do with the case, — that J. Wilbur had 
never been charged with any unsoundness of doctrine, and 



Lin: am» LETT] [1842. 

that even the term doctrine was not mentioned in the com- 
plaint ! In the coarse of their clamorous interfere]] 
they had repeatedly urged the reading of the complaint, 
as well as the "minority report;" both which the meeting 
now consented Bhonld be read, with the express under- 
standing and agreement, hon that a new investiga- 
tion of the case should not be gone into, and that the 
report of the committee alrca-lv before the meeting 
Bhould receive its undivided attention. Notwithstanding 
this agreement, the complaint and ••minority report" 
were no sooner read, than the yearly meeting's committee 

took the very COUTSe which bad been anticipated and pro- 
vided against; of which they were forcibly reminded by 
several Friends ; when Win. J. had the hardihood to de- 
clare that no such agreement had been made! And he 
became so warm on this and several other occasions, that 
Borne of his own colleagues, who Bat above him in the gal- 
lery, thought it necessary to cool him off; which they did 
by pulling him down and shaking their heads at him ! 
T. A. made an awkward and unsuccessful attempt to 
extricate himself from his assertion, that the term doctrine 
Was not to he fofind in the complaint; and endeavored to 
explain it away, continuing to insist that they had de- 
parted from the original ground of complaint against 
J. W., which was the cause of the committees leaving be- 
fore the termination of the trial, &C. lie was replied to 
by 0. I'., the clerk of the committee, who said that at 
t last monthly meeting T. A. had called for the ex- 
tracts from their minutes upon that subject — they were 
now present, and he would read them. He accordingly 
took the paper, and read it. 

The reading of these extracts had a powerful effect upon 
them: though T. A. Cavilled a little, and said that they 

had seen Borne part of that paper before, but much had 

been added by they knew not whom. William J. inquired 

of ( iharles Perry, whether that paper had not been written 

the meeting of the committee when they were pre- 

9omethingto this effect. To which C. P. replied, 

that it had not — that it was a true extract from their mi- 
nutes, with the exception of the explanatory note, which 
he had clearlv identified when he read it. This seemed to 



1^ 1-J. ] TH0M \s B. '."i LD. 169 

then up. A proposition was made thai Friends 
iin express themseh ieption 

report, which they did, — nearly or quite four-fifths of the 
meeting uniting with it- reception and the dismission of 
the while but one man openly objected to it, and 

three or four others threw cold water upon it, though 
they did not in bo many words object. NevertheL 

T. A.. I!. <i.. and D. T>. declared that the BOlid Bense 

and judgment of the meeting was opposed to its reception, 
and every member of the quarterly meeting's committee, 
in conjunction with their colleagues from the yearly meet- 
ing, did their utmost to hare the case referred; but after 

.it deliberation, and almost unparalleled patience, the 

clerk made an appropriate minute, receiving the report 
and dismissing the case; — it was then sent to the women, 
who Boon Bent it back, with the information that it had 
been very fully united with in their meeting. Hut the 

female members of the quarterly meeting's committee did 

what they could against it. 

The meeting was no sooner closed, than the quarterly 
meeting's committee stopped Lydia Wilbur and Eunice 
Foster, and sent Othniel Foster after John Wilbur, who 
declined going. They then inquired of the two women, 
whether they had unity with their husbands ; — being an- 
red in the affirmative, they were all three advised, in 
the name of the quarterly meeting's committee, not to 
attend any more select meetings. As J. Wilbur declined 
going to the meeting-house at their bidding, and very 
properly, too, as I believe, they sent J. D. and B. C. 
immediately to his house, where, in the name of the quar- 
terly meeting's committee at large (for the select com- 
mittee, which has been so long standing, and so active in 
dealing with J. Wilbur, was released at the last quarter), 
they advised him not to attend any more select meetings; 
to which, considering it merely the effect of their spleen, 
he made no answer. When they asked his wife if she had 
unity with her husband, she promptly answered, " Yes, I 
am no Gurneyite !" 

Farewell. 

T. B. Gould. 
15 



170 LIFE AND LETTERS 0* [1842, 

To John Wilbur. 

Newport, 25Ui of I2tb mo., 1842, 
Mv dbab Friend : 

Indeed, there has 1 1 < » 1 1 1 i 1 1 ir occurred which 

med worth writing about, or rather that If written, 

would have paid for the reading. But I received a letter 

recently from brother Joseph, in which he says: "Two 

of our friends lately had a very serious opportunity with 

, on his return from Baltimore, in relation to the 

proceedings in the ease of J. W. He seemed in a good 
disposition, and said lie entirely disapproved of the pro- 
ceedings, and had used his influence in the committee to 
get them to drop it. The only thing he seemed to justify, 
was the laying down of the monthly meeting." 
M lie said he did not think the quarterly meeting had any 
right to annul the proceedings of the monthly meeting, 
which they had sanctioned bv going into an investigation 
before the committee in 3, AV.'s case, and in other ways. 
In fact, he was brought to acknowledge that nearly all the 

proceedings were wrong! And I have no doubt myself 

that he would much rather not have anything to do with 
these things, but, like many others, has not independence 
enough to withstand the influence of the great men at 
Providence." . . .1 have just written to Joseph, in- 
forming him pretty fully of the part which has 

actually performed in tliis business, — of the advices con- 
tained in that paper which he signed and presented to your 

monthly meeting, the report of the committee, &c, — by 

which he may see how inconsistent his practice has been 
with his profession to them: and letting him know withal, 
that I cannot find sufficient charity, or good ground, for 

believing that he is in a very " good disposition," being 
persuaded that he only resorted to that shift, to escape 
their close questioning, ami made use of Bmooth words and 

fair speeches in order to deceive tlu-ni : also expressing a 
hope thai they would be on their guard in future. There 

18 no doubt in my mind, that was rather reluc- 
tantly drawn into this business at first, but I fear he has 



L842, ) rjioai is b. oould. 171 

been for Borne time fully initiated into all their Bchem 
II ; ^ conduct has shown his co-operation therein. 
Well, my dear Friend, lei them try their best to effect 
their purpose. I believe it will all work far L r «»<»<l in the 
end. For Burely, it' they keep on, and they have not 
much Farther to go, they will make the moetf extraordinary 
and notorious case of injustice, oppression, and persecution, 
that was ever known since we were a people! . 

Our mutual friend, Stephen Chase, of Portsmouth, was 
here yesterday; he says that Primacy Pearse, relict of 
Benjamin Pearse, has been very ill for Borne time, and that 
she Bent for him, a few days ago, to conic and sec her- On 
going, he found her so ill that he would not have thought 
it suitable to Bay anything to her about the state of So- 
ciety: but she soon introduced it herself, by telling him of 

BOme visits she had received, in which the visitors had em- 
ployed their time in tirades against thee and some other 

friends; to some of whom she had replied, that J. Wilbur 

Was a friend she had always highly oteemed, but she had 
no doubt thou wast tried in the furnace of affliction, and 
that it was heated seven times hotter than it was wont to 
be heated ; but that her faith was, thou wouldst be de- 
livered without even the smell of fire upon thy garments. 
She then told Stephen of her meeting with thee in the 
street after yearly meeting ; that it had been so long since 
she had seen thee, that she would not have known thee, 
had it not been that T. B. Gr. introduced thee to her; and 
added : w * When thou scot John Wilbur, give my dear love 
to him, and tell him that my prayers are for him, both day 
and night!" Stephen requested me to give thee this ac- 
count, with his own love affectionately. I have used 
Stephen's words, I think. 

Thus, thou secst, the prayers of the Church arc for thee, 
which, that is, the Church, is, I believe, much represented 
by, if not composed of, the little and low — the humble and 
retiring ones — who also are often found in a persecuted, 
wilderness state. The query often arises, will they not be 
sought out and gathered'." 

We have lately had a visit from D. C. lie spoke three 
times in our mid-week meeting. His first communication 



17-! LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1842. 

was remarkable for him, or indeed for any one, as it was 
not the work of I>. 0., or of any man y I am persuaded, 
for he .L r <»t hold of things quite unintelligible to them, and 
most likely to himself; bnt his last two showed the weak- 
ness of poor mortals, being made rery sickening with &nra, 
&c, to use Christopher Healy's quaint expression. After 
which the query was revived, "If ye love them that love 

you, what thank have ye? do not even the publicans the 

same':" And it was shown that it was a very natural and 
easy thing to love our friends (which had been the burden 
of his last communication), bnt that lie -who is Lord of all 
had erected a higher standard to which He gathered His 

children and people, requiring them to love their enemies, 
to do good to them that hate them, and to pray for them 
that despitefully use them and persecute them, and say 

all manner of evil against them falsely, for His sake: and 
it was declared, that nothing short of a measure of the 
Spirit, power, and life of Christ, could enable any man to 
do this ; and also that except our righteousness did exceed 
the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, Ave could 
in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. After which, 
M. H. 1>. undertook to show what a "distracting and dis- 
organizing effect religion [!] produced in the world, to go 
no farther back than the rise of our Society ;" but was 
hard set to maintain his position, and seemed equally un- 
able to cast anchor, and unwilling to go ashore; to which, 

however, he at length drifted 

I wish thou couldst find in thy heart to make us a visit. 
We gel along very comfortably, and I believe it would be 
more satisfactory to thee than it was last winter, — things 
are very different in every respect. Those peculiar trials 
under which we then labored, 1 have no doubt, were wisely 
permitted, and that we are more likely, rightly to appre- 
ciate the blessings we now enjoy, which are so numerous 
and unmerited, that I often feel as if my cup did overflow ! 

Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days 

of my life ! . . . . 

Farewell, from thy affectionate friend, 

Thos. 1). Gould. 



18 13, | THOU US B. dOULD. L78 

PBOM JOHM Wirmi; 10 T. 1>. (i. 

Barak, 1st month, 6th, 1843, 
My drab Thomas: 

Thy kind letter was bo interesting throughout, that it 
truly deserved a more ready and better answer than 1 have 
been, and Bhall at this time, be able to give. And first 1 
will speak of the comfortable and peaceful state which thy- 
self and family are enjoying, both in body and mind. Nor 
am I myself BO much below par as to forbid my rejoicing 
with you; nay, for I will rejoice, that Infinite Goodn< 
through the abounding of Btis mercy, lias enabled ua 
far, through this campaign of a cruel warfare from false 
brethren, to escape with our lives unhurt, amid the storm 
of arrows bo prepared, as for a deadly purpose. Yea, and 
let the whole remnant of Israel rejoice, give God thanks, 
and take courage, without foreboding much of the proba- 
bly greater suffering ami greater dangers yet to come ; for 
Ave clearly see that lie is able to cover the heads of those 
who trust in Him, and to ordain that sufficient unto the 
evil day shall be the <jood thereof ; to provide sufficiently 
for the escape of those whose minds are stayed upon Him, 
and who trust in Him. I am full in the belief, that no 
weapon which is formed against these shall prosper, so 
long as they are thus stayed, in the most pinching seasons 
of the trial of their faith, upon Him who was never foiled 
in battle, though all the powers from beneath were arrayed 
against Him ; no, never; nor will He ever be ! And the 
more I see of the concert and the plans which are contrived 
by that wisdom which is from beneath, the more clearly I 
have been enabled to see through this " battle of the war- 
riors, and garments rolled in blood:" yes, garments rolled 
in blood ; for many have been slain by them, whose blood 

will certainly be required at their hands ! 

Thine as ever, 

John Wilbur, 



15^ 



174 I.I 1 i: AND LETTERS OF [1843. 

Prom T. r>. G. to George F. Read. 

Newport, third month, 12th, 1843. 

My dbab Friend : 

I cannot longer withhold an acknow- 
ledgment of the peculiar satisfaction, comfort, and en- 
couragement which thy last Inter was a messenger of to 
me : and not to me only, but to a few other and strictly 
confidential friends, who, like thyself, are under bonds 
and afflictions for the testimonies which they hold, and 
are constrained to bear, in the midst of a crooked and 
perverse generation ; who having a form of godliness, 
deny the power thereof, and in this state, as dear Isaac 
Penington said, "can do no other than persecute those 
who hear testimony to the one and against the other." 

Well, my dear friend, as this is no new thing under the 
sun, — for so persecuted they the prophets which were 
before us — 1 can but respond, and that, too, with sin- 
cerity and earnestness, to thy petition, that we may be 
enabled to endure hardness as good soldiers, to contend 
zealously for the faith once delivered to the saints, and to 
fight valiantlv the Lord's battles, in His Strength and not 
our own, rallying to His standard, that His banner may 
cover us ; for I am renewedly persuaded that "He hath 
given a banner to them who fear Him, which shall be un- 
furled because of the truth." 

My desire is, that Ave may not only be encouraged by 
"the cloud of witnesses" who have trodden this tribulated 
path before us; but that we may be unceasingly engaged 
in looking unto .Jesus, and waiting upon Him who is the 
Captain of our salvation and the Author of our faith : 

and who, though He is Lord of all, Himself endured the 

cross and despised the shame, and, loving the church, 
gave Himself for it, that He might purify and cleanse it, 
and make it a glorious church, not having spot, or 
wrinkle, or any such thing. Oh ! He will have a clean, 
pure people, a peculiar people: and He knows what will 

make them such; therefore lie hath Bet His fire as in 



L8 to.] rHOMJ . oould. IT-') 

!i. and His furnaqp as in Jerusalem, and caused judg- 
ment to begin aa at the bouse of the Lord. See also 
Isaiah LO : 16, 17, and Obadiah 17. L8, and 21, . . . 
With much love, I am thy sincere friend, 

r r. B, Gould, 



To Etb \n Foster. 

\k\\ port, third month, 2 1st, 18 L3« 
MY \ "i-:i:v DBAB FRIBND : 

1 could lmt gel rid of a very strong and 

rather peculiar desire to visit you, to see you face to face ; 

strong indeed that I could scarcely yield to circum- 
ttces which seemed to render it wholly improper. To 

visit the brethren and see how they do, is often as ser- 
viceable (if not more so), to the visitors as to the visited, 
especially when the former are inhabitants of a desert land. 

Such, journeying southward, sometimes meet with u springs 
of water." Truly, we have witnessed a long drought here, 
even in the winter, not unaccompanied with blasts peculiar 
to the season, which have beat vehemently against the Avail : 
and as there had been something of a rest experienced 
previously, I have thought some of our Friends might 
entertain fears, and perhaps not without reason, lest Ave 
should take our " flight either in the winter or on the 
sabbath-day." If so, perhaps it may not be amiss 
to mention, that some of us have recently given great 
offence to the " chief priests and rulers of the synagogue," 
by our obedience to what we believed to be required of us 
by Him who is "Lord even of the sabbath." . . . . 
We did, however, hear incidentally, just before thou wrote, 
that W. E. had advised thy father [J. Wilbur] to appeal. 

The information surprised us I can see no 

other reason for their giving this advice, than a supposition 
that it may prevent us from going " out from among 
them," — our adversaries, — by haste or by flight, which I 
rather expect they fear we shall; and being themselves 
in a strait, as they are somewhat committed to us, they 
are willing to put the evil day afar off, especially as they 
have but a small portion of the suffering to bear in the 



17<i MM AND LETTERS 03 [d' s ^ :>> - 

interim. It is indeed a momentous concern, an awful 
crisis ! Fot the divisions of Reuben there should be 
great searchinga of heart, that we may know what, and 
what manner of time the Holy Spirit shall signify, for the 
accomplishment of our deliverance from under bondage as 
cruel, and darkness as truly to be felt, as that which pre- 
vailed in the land of Egypt. I freely confess my inability 
to see what Bteps it may he proper for us to take ulti- 
mately. I am equally unable to see any good or any 
strength we are gaining by our connection with them. 
Still I must say, and I own that the remark hears with 
full force upon myself, that it is very important we should 
not take the cause into our own hands, or do anything 
rashly for the sake of ease and deliverance ; lest we lose 
our own standing in the Lord's sight, he rejected of Him, 
and become ourselves monuments of His displeasure ! 
Nevertheless, I mostly incline to the opinion that the 
injunction will go forth, " Come out from among them, 

and he ye separate/ 5 

The bottom of those people in Indiana is plainly seen, 
by their adopting the title of u Anti-slavery Friends." 
This is not Quaker ground : they have avowed a sectarian 
platform, have proved themselves sect-masters, though 
perhaps, in reality, they are not more so than those from 
whom they have seceded. But true Quakerism being 
" primitive Christianity revived," those who are in poss< •>- 
Bion of it, having come, as (Jcorgc Fox said, " into that 
power where men shall agree," have got beyond sects and 
parties, and have attained to that which comprehends all 
minor principles of religious rectitude, of moral reforma- 
tion, within itself. These stand upon a firm foundation, — 
aye, and a hroad one, too, even as hroad as the Truth 
itself, and are singularly quick of discernment respecting 
the branches from the same Root, and the motion of the 
same life, wherever it may appear; although such may be 

Blow to identify themselves with that Superfluous, sponta- 
neous growth, which overtops the root, and oppresses the 
life of the true Seed. 

1 have inadvertently and unexpectedly blundered upon 

these remarks, which can he of little interest to thee. They 



L8 !•'>. | THOMAS B. 001 u>. 1 .7 

have been produced by a train of reflections upon the 
"anti-slavery cause' 1 in general, into which I fell while 
penning thai incidental notice of the separation in Indiana. 
And now 1 musi say plainly, thai while I wholly disap- 
prove of the latter, there is much in the former, even Look- 
ing at it aside from the interest and welfare of the Blai 
which cannol fail to be deeply interesting to every true 
Quaker. .1 verily believe there is a motion of life among 
them, and thai if they could but know the "mystery of 
the holy silence/ 1 and be broughl into the experience of it, 
they would see a work to he performed, beyond the aboli- 
tion of outward honds ; and not only so. hut receive hea- 
venly qualifications, availingly to plead the cause of the 

oppressed. 

If there is anything here which thou thinkest likely to 
do harm, or hurt the feelings of any one. please exercise 
thy wonted care and prudence in the matter. I believe 

thou knowest how dearly I love, and how highly I esteem 
some dear Friends who have thought it right to take a 
more active part in these moral and benevolent works, 
than I ever found it my place to do. And what thinkest 
thou ? Has it not been, in some of these instances, a sort 
of preparatory dispensation for a greater work ? 

Thy sincere friend, 

T. B. Gould. 



To Joshua Maule. 

Newport, 12th month, 13th, 1843. 

.... "Without the least desire to affix a high stamp 
upon anything which flows from my pen, as well knowing 
it docs not merit it, and will not bear it ; yet I freely own 
to thee, that in receiving communications of this kind, it 
seems very desirable that some degree of the savor of life 
should attend them; something of that which renders us 
like an " epistle written in the heart," which can "be 
known and read of all men" who have come to " the minis- 
tration of the Spirit." This, it must be confessed, is no- 
thing less than " the hope of our calling ;" and if we were 
but obedient to it, if we were but engaged to wait for it, 



178 LIVE AND LETTERS OF [1S43. 

even "until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high/' 
liow would it make the wilderness of this world like a fruit- 
ful field; and the desert — that which had been fruitful in 
nothing but briers and thorns — "to rejoice and blossom 
as the ros< 

But this would be considered mysticism by the wise and 
prudent of this degenerate day; especially if the idea con- 
veyed by the term life } and "the Bavor of Life*" were car-* 
ried out to its full extent ; seeing it is not supposed to be 
intelligible by them as applied to the ministry, much L< 
then to matters of minor importance, such as. compara- 
tively Bpeaking, I admit this kind of communication to lie. 
But I think thou, my dear brother* wilt agree with me, 
that we should be gainers by the experiment, if, while we 
profess to be led by the Spirit, we should apply that rule 
to the more ordinary concerns of life, so as to become ac- 
quainted with the motions of it : and having OUT spiritual 
faculties exercised by reason of use, we should he able to 

distinguish between the sweet savor of it, and the evil 
savor which is emitted whenever the "dead Hies are mingled 

in the ointment of the apothecary. " 

.... I note what thou sayest respecting your trials, 
as well as that in relation to the disaffected persons among 
you. Truly we are neither exempt from the one nor the 
other: and doubtless these things are permitted for our 
refinement, both individually and conventionally. As it 
regards our poor Society, let us view it from what point 
We may. it does manifestly appear to he in a truly mourn- 
ful condition; weakness ami degeneracy have come over 
it generally, hut of some places in particular it really seems 
a- if the language of the prophet was verified: "That 

which the palmer WOim hath left hath the locust eaten ; 
and that which the locust hath left hath the Canker worm 
eaten ; and that which the canker worm hath left hath the 
caterpillar eaten." Yea. they have k * laid the vine waste, 
and barked the fig-tree, making it clean hare," until there 

ma t<> l>e nothing left : not a "sherd t<> take fire from 

the hearth, or water withal out of the pit." And this is 

doubtless produced by individual unfaithfulness, together 

with an unsound and un>anctiiicd ministry, the withering 



1 - J:',. ) THOMAS B. 80ULD, 1 1 9 

effects of which I think are plainly apparent where it haa 

d, Buch have sown to the wind, and reap< 'I 

the whirlwind. On the contrary, where a living stream 

pel ministry haa been mercifully kepi open, more 

. more strength, ami more bfe appears; as in 

Philadelphia and ( >hio yearly meetings : ■ bui even tie 

"cm- to me, come short of the primitive times, of the 

brightness in which those bom of the morning, those stare 

the first magnitude in the firmament of the Lord's 

power, Bhone in their day. How far the circumstances of 

the times in which they lived, and the persona] Buffering 

which they endured, may have contributed to the wide dif- 
ference which, 1 think, is apparent, between the early 
Friends and the best modern ones, in respect to zeal, vigi- 
lance, and success in the cause and work of the Lord, it is 
not my intention to venture an opinion now. Still the 

cause is the same, the principles are the same, for truth 

changeth not ! And what they were in their day, they 
were by the power thereof. 

Neither have I any doubt but that there are some, yea. 
many, scattered about here and there, — although I fear 
these are, in comparison with others, " like one in a family 
or two in a tribe," — who stand in a measure of the same 
power in which the early Friends stood, are contending for 
the same principles, are walking by the same rule, and 
minding the same thing. But I am ready to conclude that 
the reason why so much difference appears, in regard to 
the success of modern laborers in the cause of truth, may 
be found in the darkness of the day and time in which we 
live. For, notwithstanding the loud boast of light and 
knowledge (and perhaps men never did, in any age, climb 
higher into the tree of head-knowledge), yet is it not, in 
respect to the true light and the living knowledge, a dark 
day, "a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of 
clouds and thick darkness," wherein ''judgment is turned 
away backward, and truth is fallen in the streets, and 
equity cannot enter?" Truly equity cannot enter in the 
high places of Israel, so called, where they cry aloud, 
" The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are 

* It is necessary to bear in mind the date of this remark. 



180 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1843. 

these!" Judgment is turned away backward, and justice 
is excluded! He thai departetfa from iniquity is sure to 
make himself a prey, while they that tempt the Lord, by 
boasting of His authority, arc even, to all human appear- 
ance delivered! Surely the Lord will vi>it for these 
things, either sooner or later! Neither Bis justice nor 
J lis judgments will sleep forever! Whether it be in our 
day or not, I believe He will yel cause proclamation to be 
made, as among the Gentiles, to "prepare for war." to 
w *wake up the mighty men:" that Jle will issue His in- 
junction and commission to the men of war, to come up, 
"as in days of old, and as in former years, " against the 
mighty; and that JIc will require them to beat their 
ploughshares into swords, and their pruning-hookfl into 
spears, and enable the weak to say, " 1 am strong." . . . 

Thy affectionate brother, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



18 18. ] Tih'M MS !■. GOULD. 181 



CII A PTEB I V 



TnB promoters of innovation continued for some time 
to cherish the hope of influencing Thomas B. Gould, by 
motives of "fear, favor, or affection," bo as to induce him 
to forego his conscientious convictions in regard to the 
Bchism which he saw was imminent in the Society, and 
unite with them in their measures. But finding him not 
to be moved thereby, but increasingly firm and undaunted 
in opposition to the evil practices by which the new views 
were promoted in the Society, the leaders of the party in 
Newport proceeded, in 1843, to institute disciplinary pro- 
ceedings against him, as out of unity with the body. This 
expression, about that time, was frequently perverted to 
the purpose of vilifying at an easy rate any against whom 
no tenable, direct, or specific charge could be produced, 
but whose steady adherence to their testimony against the 
removal of our ancient landmarks seriously obstructed 
these unhallowed advances towards change, and must be 
put out of the way. 

The manner in which T. B. Gould was treated by those 
in authority at this time (no less than the treatment and 
disownment of John Wilbur by the same party, a short 
time before), was disgraceful to persons claiming to act 
for any professing Christian Church. They finally suc- 
ceeded in disowning him, though not until, by the separa- 
tion which their party had themselves already effected in 
Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting and its monthly meetiii 
they had cut off all their own rightful claim to act on be- 
half of the Society, or to be considered as constituting a 
portion of its true members. Several years afterwards, 
in compliance with the expressed desire of some for dis- 
tinct information on the subject, T. B. Gould wrote a de- 

16 



182 LIFE AND letters OF [1844. 

tailed statement of these strangely irregular proceedings 
insl hiii). which will be Been in the following letter to 
Y. \\\. and in one afterwards written i<» a friend in Ohio : 
-nine parte of the latter having been omitted, to avoid 
repetition of portions Sufficiently elucidated in the former. 

These letter.-, though referring to events of 1843 and 

1*44, were written after his visit to Ohio, ten years after- 
wards, which will account for some allusions to matt 

appearing here out of the order of date-. 

From T. B. Got u> to Y. W . 

Newport, 11th mo., 9tb, 18 
Mv DEAR FRIEND: 

Thy kind letter of the Oth inst. is just received, and 
although pressed for time and much indisposed, I hasten 
to answer thy inquiries respecting the time and manner of 
proceeding against me, in order to my disownment by 
those, who, before they had accomplished their avowed 
object in seeking to make me aii offender, themselves went 

off in a body from Rhode Island Quarterly and Monthly 

Meetings, and, according to the decision of Philadelphia 

Yearly Meeting, set up separate meetings, in violation of 
the order, and contrary to the discipline of New England 
Yearly Meeting, and of the Society of Friends. 

Thou askest : " With what offence wast thou charged, 
and when':" — which it is somewhat difficult for me to 
answer at this distance of time, as I kept no record at the 
time, and as the charges made by the overseers of Newport 
Preparative Meeting, during the only official visit which I 
ever received from them both, as such, were so indefinite, 
and so often changed, and went hack during so long a 
period, — no less than six years (although during all that 
time I had never keen BO much as admonished by them, 
or, until very near the time of which I am now speaking, 
by any others, concerning any [alleged ] misdemeanor) ; and 
for the additional reason, that they would neither tell me 
Certainly whether they should carry a charge against me to 
the next preparative meeting, nor yet, in terms, what it was 
to he, if they carried one, which they said they "probably 



18 I I.] Til".M 18 B, G01 LD. 1 B8 

should do.' 1 But they did it not, and bo I concluded it 

given over \'<>v one month, as nothing was Baid ab< 
it in the preparative meeting, which I attended ; and ac- 
i i oul with my wife to attend the next monthly 
meeting, then held about eight miles from Newport. But 

were unable to reach there, by reason of our attempt- 
ing to go in a sleigh : tin* sleighing being good in the town, 
but on getting a few miles out of town we found the Bnow 
bo much drifted, and the roads bo bare, that we could not 
reasonably proceed, and had to turn back ; and before we 
could have changed our vehicle, &c, and have reached the 
meeting-house, it would have been bo late in the day, and 
the meeting ><> nearly over, that I felt easiest, under the 

cnmstances, not to make a second attempt. And bo 
they availed themselves of my absence from the monthly 
meeting, and carried their complaint into it, without its 

r having been laid before the preparative meeting in 
any shape. This manner of proceeding was strongly 
objected to, as irregular, by some of my strongest opposers ; 
they said it would be taken advantage of by me; but the 
clerk, who was also one of -the overseers of Newport, and 
bitterly opposed to me, insisted on its being entered on 
the minutes, alleging, as I was told, that it was a favorable 
time, and Buch as might not occur again, the individual 
being absent ; and so it was done, and a joint committee of 
men and women appointed to labor with me. This was in 
the Becond month, 1844; and thou canst judge whether 
this manner of proceeding was regular or not. I had 
never known, and the oldest and most experienced mem- 
bers of this monthly meeting had never before known of a 
complaint or charge being carried to the monthly meeting, 
except through the medium of the preparative, until now ! 

The committee so appointed had repeated opportunities 
with me, during a period of nine months. The first and 
second time they visited me, I think they did not bring a 
copy of the charge with them; at any rate, they would not 
produce it, if they did, neither did they seem to know what 
the charge was. .Hut as I insisted upon knowing distinctly 
what was charged against me, the next time they came, 
they brought What they said was a true copy of it ; but 



184 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

they refused at the same time to let me see it ! Baying "It 
was sufficient for them to know what Friends had against 
me. n I still urged my right to see it. One of them, who 
was scarcely capable of reading printed matter correctly, 
said lie would read it to me. I asked him to let me read 
it myself. He said I might look over his shoulder and 
read it, but he could not let me have it in my hand. I 
asked, " Why not '.' did they suppose I would deface it, 
destroy it. or retain possession of it against their wishes?" 
He said, kfc No; they had entire confidence in my honor and 
integrity! but 1). 1>." (the clerk of the monthly meeting, 
and the bitterest of the two overseers of Newport Prepara- 
tive Meeting, and a very active member of the yearly 
meeting's committee also), "had told him not to let me 
have it by any means." And they treated me so un- 
reasonably and unhandsomely in this interview, that I 
declined any further intercourse with them, as a com- 
mittee, at that time, unless they would pursue a different 
course : and I did leave the parlor and shut the door after 
me when I went out, for it was cold weather ; but I did 
not go out pettishly nor hastily, and I had also other good 
reasons for going out, which I did not think needful to 
mention to them. Neither did this end that interview, for 
they followed me into the back part of the house, where, 
for some reason or other, they had chosen to enter at 
first, and from whence I had invited them to go into the 
parlor, which they seemed reluctant to do, although my 
wife was sweeping when they came into the dining-room, 
and sat down, seeming resolved to stay there, though I 
told them I could not endure the dust, which was yet un- 
settled, and they all knew I was suffering with asthma. 
But this made no difference to them. Indeed they seemed 

throughout, to delight in causing me to suffer in every 

way in their power. After they came out of the parlor 

into the dining-room, I had occasion to remind one of 
them of Something he had said, while we were together in 
the meeting-house yard, at a certain time; whereupon he 

promptly denied it, and, in a very irreverent manner, 
made use of the >acred name, appealing to his Maker 
vehemently and repeatedly, exclaiming, " God Almighty 



L844 thom ! u>. 185 

kimws thai I aever said - He had told me thai the 

31 desire he had, was to have me disowned, on 

mi of my intimacy and unity with J. Wilbur, and also 

on account of my disunity with and opposition to J. J. 

whom he at the same time represented as a 

superior being! I now cautioned him against denying it, 

l distinctly remembered what he had said; and let him 

know that hia manner of doing it was equivalent to the 

taking of an oath: thai it was a very wrong and incon 

tent thing to swear at all. and that it was doubly SO to 

tar falsely. He said he knew it, but that he would do 

and went on with his appeals to his Maker, in a way 

which ry painful and fearful to hoar. There were 

■ other men, and two females of the committee present. 
One of the latter was in the station of a minister. She 
and one of the other men, as well as this man, are all 
Bine d. and there is now hut one member of the 

tmittee alive and in possession of her mental powers : 
she at that time had not long been a member of the So- 
ciety, and was wholly silent throughout. 

They had several interviews with me after this, pursu- 
ing me through a long and very severe attack of illness, 
which brought me near to the grave. Sometimes when 
they came, I said little or nothing to them, not feeling at 
liberty so to do; then they would report to the monthly 
meeting. u that the young man was somewhat meliorated; 
that they were in hopes his sickness would be of use to 
him, and that he would be induced to make an acknow- 
ledgment/' And so they kept the case along during nine 
months, not disowning me until the day that the separa- 
tion took place in this monthly meeting, and after it had 
taken place. During all this time, they refused to let me 

the charge, unless I had consented to see it upon con- 
ditions and under circumstances which I did not feel easy 
to submit to. And yet one of the committee did in a 
roundabout way let my wife see a paper which he said 
was the charge, which was to this effect : " that the over- 
seers of Newport Preparative Meeting had several tine 
(and this was untrue), 4i treated with T. B. Gould, for 
having manifested himself out of unity with Friends in all 

16 ■■"■ 



186 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

the meetings of discipline of which he is a member, and 
also for haying charged the overseer- of Newport with being 
actuated 1>\ a spirit of envy and malice." Nowit availed 
me nothing, to be able to show that I had a right to ex- 
press a different sentiment or judgment from those who 

bore rule in meetings for discipline, or that their doings 
were inconsistent in themselves, and with our principles 
and discipline. And in regard to the latter part of the 
charge, 1 had merely stated, as a reason why a. charge 
which was brought against another Friend ought not to he 
entered <>n the minutes of the preparative meeting, or to 
he sent to the monthly meeting, — that one of the over- 
seers v, ho brought it had admitted to me, that the other 
overseer had been actuated bv an envious and malicious 
spirit against the Friend complained of, and that being 
conscious of having the power to do it, lie was resolved to 
have him disowned. 

Thou askest whether I "ever felt or expressed to any 
Friend, uneasiness for that which was made the ground of 
their dealings with me?" To "which I can answer, that 
according to the best recollection I have, I never did either 
fee! or express any uneasiness with it. I never doubted 
its rectitude, or made anything like an acknowledgment 
to the overseers or the committee; although in conversa- 
tion respecting these things I may possibly have admitted, 
some time or other, that it was probable I might have con- 
ducted the defense more wisely than I did, but I never 
thought it would have made the least difference as to the 
result. Indeed one of the overseers told me, that those 
who united with J. J. G. were determined that I should 
be disowned at all events! This overseer was rather a 
clever, hut not a very shrewd man, and was, I believe, really 
unwilling that 1 should he disowned, although he seemed 
incapable of pursuing a straightforward course, or of 
understanding why I was unwilling to make an acknow- 
ledgment to them, or to the committee, for having done 
what 1 believed to have been required of me. lie is not 
now living. He sought repeated opportunities with me, 
without the knowledge, as he said, of the other overseer 
of Out preparative meeting, to try to induce me to satisfy 



1844.] THOMAS B. GOULD. I S? 

his colleague; whom I knew I could no1 satisfy, unless I 

e up the whole ground of my testimony against th< 
w rone things, which he owned to me constituted the whole 
cause ^i' their proceedings against me. For he told me 
plainly, that be was satisfied 1 had acted conscientiously; 
and not only so, bul said he, "Thou bast been exemplary 
and consistent with thy profession from thy childhood to 
this day; everybody knows that; and I am willing to 
acknowledge it :" adding, " But thee knows that were 
are many Friends who are determined tp have thee dis- 
owned; 1 am not one of them, but D. B." (the other 

irseer) k *is and they have the power to do it!" I 
asked him, " If they were convinced of my integrity, and 

if I had always been exemplary and consistent with our 
profession, what they were treating with me as an offender 
for?' 1 "Why," said he, "they look upon thee as a 
main spoke in the wheel of opposition to J. J. Grurney, 

and as being likely to bring about a separation in the 
Society: and unless thee ceases to oppose his sentiments, 
and will make an acknowledgment, and satisfy Friends for 
what thee has said against him and his writings, they are 
determined to disown thee." I told him, " that so far 
from seeking to produce a separation, the object of my 
labor and concern had been to prevent it, by opposing the 
introduction and adoption of unsound sentiments, and the 
inconsistent and disorderly practices consequent upon 
their dissemination; knowing as I did that a departure 
from first principles would lead those who departed into a 
separation from the Society; which I had labored to pre- 
vent, in the ability received, being very sincerely desirous 
that Friends might continue to be united in the ancient 
faith and principles of the Society, and fully convinced 
that the adoption of new principles would produce a sepa- 
ration, provided any portion of the members stood faithful 
to the ancient standard." But he said, the great body of 
Society were united with J. J. Gurney, &c, and he would 
advise me "to stick to the body, right or wrong !" "Why," 
said he, " if Rowland Green, Thomas Anthony, and John 
Meader, were to advise me to do a thing which I knew to 
be wrong, I should do it ! I like to pin my faith upon tin 4 



188 LIFB AND LBTTJSRfi OF [1844. 

sleeves of such men as they are. And why can't thee do 

it'.' I sec a great many tiling done which I know arc 

wrong; bul I do as they tell me to do, and theyxnu&l 
take the responsibility !" So much for this overseer : and 
the committee were not one whit sounder or more reason- 
able, and much less moderate and civil. 

A short time before the overseers of Newport visited 
me, I received a visit from Edward Wing and Asa Sher- 
man, who stood in the station of overseers of another ]>re- 
parative meeting; and upon their saying that they had 
come to have an opportunity with me, I. asked in what 

Capacity they had come? They said, w *as overseers/' 

Whereupon I queried whether they had not come too 
soon; adding, the overseers of, Newport Preparative Meet- 
ing, to which I belong, have never yet bo much as admo- 
nished me. They affected to express surprise at this, and 
Edward Wing immediately replied, "We came as members 
of the quarterly meeting s committee." — "But thou art 
not a member of that committee," said I. "Well then/' 
.-aid lie, "we came as members of the yearly meeting's 
commit To which L replied, "Asa Sherman is not 

a member of that, — hut no matter: what is the occasion 
of your coming ?" — (for I saw it was unavailing to stand 
upon technicalities, Edward having resumed, u Wc came 
as overseers, and as members of the quarterly and yearly 
meeting's committees, all three !") — To which Edward 
replied, " Friends were much dissatisfied with what thee 
Said in the quarterly meeting the other day." — " What 
did I say, Edward, which gave Friends uneasiness?" — 
"Oh," said he, w * I cannot tell what thee said; thee 
knows what thee said, and we Want thee to make an ac- 
knowledgment for it. Thee said a great deal ; thee 
used a great many words, and we know thy memory is 
id, and we can believe what thee says. Now we want 
thee to tell us what thee .-aid, and to make an acknow- 
ledgment for it, and then we Bball know !" I endeavored 
to show them the unreasoiiahleness of their coming to 
treat with me as an offender, for something which 1 had 
Said in our quarterly meeting (for business), without their 
knowing what it was, and then calling upon me to hear 



18 1 I. | THOMAS I:. GOULD. I s ' 1 

witi inst myself, which T told them no man, nol 

n a criminal, was bound to do. Bui Edward, not 
the force of this in any respect, continued 
t<> urge me to tell them what I did say; gratuitously in- 
Forming me how vn-v candid and honest they considered 
me to be, and how implicitly they would rely upon my 
giving them the very words which had been used; and 
withal repeating the declaration, that I had Baid a irrt-M t 
deal, had used a great many words, &c. Whereupon I 
appealed to Asa Sherman, who had been silent hitherto, 
to know whether he could say that 1 had said a great 
deal, or used many words, in the quarterly meeting at 

the time referred to. To which lie replied, that he 

could not Bay that I used many words; hut added, 
" Sometimes there is a great deal said in ;i few word-:" 

and immediately added. " I must confess that I felt more 
dissatisfied with what thee said in the monthly meeting, 

than with what thee Baid in the quarterly meeting." I 
then asked what I said in the monthly meeting, which 
gave him uneasiness? " Why," said he, " thee used 
Bevere and violent language there." — "What was the 
language, Asa?" — "Why, thee said that Simeon and 
Levi were brethren, that instruments of cruelty were in 
their habitations, and thee went on and quoted the whole 
passage!" — "Did I quote it correctly, Asa?" — "Oh, 

. very correctly." — " And thou callest that severe and 
violent language, dost thou?" — "Yes," said he, "I do; 

Felt it very keenly." To which I merely answered, 
" It was the language of the patriarch Jacob, and by thy 
acknowledgment, correctly quoted ; and if you felt the 
force of it, or deemed the language violent, I don't know 
that I am to be blamed for it." They immediately 
changed their plan of operations, and commenced fawning 
upon me, telling me how much they loved me and esteemed 
me, and that if I would only renounce J. Wilbur, and get 
out from under his clutches, and have unity with them and 
J. J. Gurney, what a fine Friend I should be, and how 
they would promote me to great honor, kc. ; all which 
had no more effect to induce me to change my course 
than the other ; and they soon after took their departure, 



100 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

with the assurance of abundance Of love and goOd-will ; 
not having brought anything against me, so far as I can 
recollect, except what 1 have here mentioned. 

1 had quoted the language of Jacob in the monthly meet- 
ing, upon the occasion of a minute of disownment having 
been made against a Friend, who, by the confession of one 

of the overseers, had been dealt with in a Spirit of envy 

and malice. And the evidence of the truth of tins asser- 
tion was most abundant, although I never so charged them 

at all: but they Wrested the words which I had used, so 
as to bring it against me in such form as best suited them 
and their purposes. 

About the same time that I received the above-mentioned 
t from the overseers of Portsmouth Preparative Meet- 
ing, and before the overseers of Newport took up my case, 
it was brought up in the tided preparative meeting, and an 
attempt was made to enter my name, as a delinquent, upon 
their minutes, and to get a committee of that meeting (of 
which I was not a member) appointed, to labor with me, 
as I was informed; and they also tried to induce my father 
to serve on this committee. Put he told them that as I 
was not a member of that meeting, they had no right to 
enter my name en their minutes as a delinquent"; and 
steadily declining to have anything to do with the mea- 
sure, which was no doubt intended as a double snare for 
liinu they finally seemed to give it up, and the meeting 
broke up. But my father was no sooner well in his chaise, 
and gone out of the meeting-house yard, on his way home, 
than the rest of the select members returned into the 
meeting-house and resumed the subject; and having thus 

got rid of my father, they deputed a female elder, who 
was a relative of mine by marriage, and one of the shrewdest 
of their number, to take an opportunity with me. And 
she BOOB after sent me a message that she wanted to see 
me. 1 was very unwell when .1 received it, and scarcely 
able to walk : but suspecting what the nature of her con- 
cern was, 1 thought I would make an effort to go and 
her at the time specified, as >he was much my senior, and 
the ground so covered with ice that she could not come to 
me; and I feared, if I went not. however poorly I was, 



1844.] THOU M9 B. aouLD. 191 

tli.it 1 should be charged with omitting it from un- 

worthy motive. Upon my going in, she manifested some 
mu'I . and confusion also; for she must have I 'li- 

able 1 was unfit to be out ; and she seemed under con- 
siderable embarrassment in opening the subject; but finally 

I me that Bhe had been appointed at their last Bel 
preparative meeting, to convey to me the feeling of the 
select Friends respecting myself. I inquired, "At the 
meeting, cousin Hannah?" "Yes, at the last/ 1 
- Why, my father was present, and informed me that there 
was no Buch committee appointed at that time.' 1 This 
increased her embarrassment, and she was fain to come 
out with an account of the informal manner in which it 

3 done, as above related. However, she said that there 

a abundance of concern manifested for my advancement 
and encouragement in every good word and work; that 

the select Friends were unanimous in this desire ; that they 
did not wish to throw the least obstruction in my way ; but 
still they felt dissatisfied with what I had expressed in the 
public meeting, when a certain minister from a neighbor- 
ing meeting was present ; they thought it was not in har- 
mony and unison with what he had expressed; and there 
had been one other occasion, in which my public commu- 
nication had given concern to Friends ; and that it was 
evident there was not that degree of love and unity, and 
harmony in exercise, and concern with the body of Society, 
in a general way. as would be very desirable : but that she 
was instructed to inform me, on behalf of the select mem- 
bers of this monthly meeting, that if I would be careful 
not to say anything in public which might seem to clash 
with what Moses II. Beede, John Meador, and such Friends 
id, and to cultivate more intercourse, and manifest more 
unity with them, that there was nothing stood in the way 
of my promotion to the extent of my desire ! &c. But I 
told her, that I had never been seeking after honor or 
promotion from man ; that if I were at liberty to seek for 
it. I was not ignorant what course would seem most likely 
to insure it; that I had done that only which I had been 
convinced was my duty to do, and therein had found peace ; 
and could not shape my course, and unite with things which 



192 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

I was convinced were wrong, for the sake either of case or 
preferment, or to please any man, or body of men; being 
satisfied that those who Bought to please men could not be 

the servants of Him whose kingdom 18 not of this world, 
&C. We had much plain talk upon the subject, hut the 
above includes the whole of what was alleged against me; 
and it is not a little remarkable that, although 1 Avas raised 
Up in a public testimony for the truth, in the very midst 
of great secret opposition at least, and of a powerful, per- 
secuting spirit, yet those two occasions were the only ones 
of a public nature which were ever objected to, so far as I 
know, by any of those people, or indeed by any other. If 
there has been dissatisfaction felt, it has never been men- 
tioned to me, or come to my knowledge; and I attended 
meeting constantly with those people five years after my 
first appearance in that line; although it is true that in 
that day such appearances were by no means frequent. 
On one of the occasions which she referred to, the minister 
who was at our meeting had been hammering at great 
length about love, and unity, and charity, seeming to make 
that all in all, although it was manifest that the " love of 
God" was not by any means " perfected" in him; and 
after he had been done a suitable time, I quoted the pas- 
sage, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righte- 
ousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in nowise 
enter the kingdom of heaven," showing in Svhat that king- 
dom consisted, where it was designed to be, and upon whose 
shoulders the government was to rest, and unto whom the 
gathering of the people was to be. But this offer of pre- 
ferment seemed to be the last attempt to gain me over to 
them, by such as were initiated and understood the de- 
signs of the leaders; and was most probably made merely 
to reconcile some of the more moderate and less knowing 
ones to the measures which were very soon after instituted, 
to disown him whom they could not induce to bow even 
with the offer of " honors, offices, and places. " 

There is one question which thou hast put to me, which 
remains to he answered, to wit : " When was the testimony 

offered?" Now I do not exactly understand to what tes- 
timony thou alludest herein. If to a testimony of denial 



1 1. ] Tiro* ka i !i'. 

or disownment, I can only Bay thai the BrcH knowl< I 
had cb a testimony having been issued against me, 

n by the separatists, occurred in Ohio Yearly Meeting, 
the other day ; when a man, Zadoc Street, held ap a pa] 
and declared that it was a testimony of disownment agai 
me ; but no Buch thing was ever offered to me at anytime! 
1 was raerelv informed, by a person who chanced to m< 
me in the Btreet in L844, that 1 had been disowned by t! 
last monthly meeting ; to which I replied, that 1 had never 

in a member of their meeting; bin that Rhode Island 
Monthly Meeting had fully exonerated me from the charj 
which Borne of those who had separated themselves from 
it. and Bel up a now meeting of their own, out of the order 
of the Society, had prepared against me ; and had dismissed 

the case from the minutes, and restored me to my rights 
ami privileges a- a member, pf which those WhO had now- 
manifested themselves to he seceders had for a time been 
permitted to deprive me. 

Although I felt hound to endeavor to maintain the 
ground upon which I stood, with firmness, yet I had also 
thought it right to submit to their requisitions, however 
unreasonable or unkind, except in such cases as I thought 
would involve a compromise of principle. I never refused 
a visit from them at any time, however inconvenient or 
unsuitable; though I believe my wife did refuse to let them 
me once or twice, during my very severe illness, without 
my knowledge, she not judging it to be at all safe or pro- 
per, and she knew best what was proper for me at that 
time; yet, after I got somewhat better, I thought best to 
consent to see them before she thought it suitable for me: 
but I was made willing to suffer, and did endeavor to do 
BO patiently: and I am confident that I was enabled to 
keep, in a good degree, both in the patience and in the 
faith also, even that faith which is victorious, though it be 
through Buffering. 

Now, having given thee this long account, I fear it 
may prove tedious to thee; but I could not in any other 
way have made thee so fullv sensible of the nature of those 
spirits which I had to contend with. It was, however, fre- 
quently manifest that the power of truth came over them, 

IT 



1!>4 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

and they could not gainsay what was uttered in its behalf; 
and they often seemed to be at their wits' end, not know- 
ing well what to do or say next : but then they would fall 
back upon the power which they possessed, and to which 
emed resolved that every knee should bom 

th of 1 lth mo. 
Thou will sec by the date of the previous sheet, that I 
commenced it immediately upon the reception of thine, 
although 1 was much unwell and unfit for writing, neither 
could 1 write much at a time; and bo, what is before 
Written was done at intervals, and was several days in 
hand. When reading it over, I could see the want of 
method, and that Iliad gone too much into detail; and 
fearing it would be as tedious to thee as it is unsatisfac- 
tory to myself, I thought I would let it lie by me, until I 
felt well enough to re-write and abridge it. But seeing 
no prospect of being able soon to do this, I have concluded 
to let thee have the perusal of it, and when thou hast 
made such corrections of misstatements with regard to 
the matter, as thou mayst see fit, I would thank thee to 
return these two sheets to me; and therefore enclose two 
postage stamps, to enable thee to do so without expense 
to thyself. This request is not founded upon any lack of 
confidence in thy integrity or prudence, but upon its being 
the only record of these things which I have ; and since 
such record has been made, I would rather have it returned 
to me again, when the purpose for which thou so kindly 
requested it has been answered. And I would rather thou 
did not hand these sheets much about, on account of the 
bungling manner in which thev are written, &c. Mv 
health has been very poor since my return : my throat and 
lungs are in a sad state. An almost incessant and dis- 
tressing cough, great difficulty of breathing, reduction of 
strength, and very little appetite, so that I am mostly 
Confined to the house and to my room; though I do some- 
time to meeting: but the prospect of better health in 
future looks discouraging, and when, if ever, I shall be 
able to accomplish what 1 had in prospect in the State of 
New York, seems doubtful. Still I have not as vet been 



1844.] THOMAS B. OOULD. L9fl 

able i" Peel a release From the burden of the concern. Bui 
when we had gol through in Philadelphia and Jersey, my 
way closed up, as regard id proceeding to Neif fork, and 
I thought best to return directly home, and attend our 
quarterly meeting and meeting for Bufferings; t ( > 
which last I felt particularly drawn for divers reasons, one 
of which was my being clerk of that meeting. My dear 
companion too found it necessary for him to return home, 

On account of his own ill health and affairs at home, and I 
could not think of going on alone. I had also e;<><>d 
rea>on to acknowledge the L r, ><»d hand of the Lord herein, 

as well as in previously leading us about and instructing 

us, from dav to da v. in the way v. herein He would have 
us to go; po that I hope no harm was done to that good 
and glorious cau<e, which we really had at heart, however 
we may have been looked upon by those who judge Only 

according to man's judgment. Although conscious of 
many weaknesses and shortcomings, yet the retrospect of 
our little, though in many respects painful embassy, has 
afforded a degree of solid satisfaction and peaceful quiet- 
ness, perhaps greater than I had ever known before. Yet 
I think I have never experienced greater poverty, or more 
humbling baptisms, than at times since my return. . 

And if thou shouldst feel any degree of 
satisfaction with my account of the manner in which I 
treated my committee, who certainly were not the most 
reasonable beings that I have seen, even in my short day, 
I would like to know it : neither would it be uninteresting 
to me to know, if it were proper, who it was that called 
the matter up'." But I can leave this, with the rest, to 
thy better judgment, and remain thy sincere and affec- 
tionate friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To Mary V. Doudxa. 

Newport, Rhode Island, 1st mo., 8th, 1855. 
My deaii Friend, Mary V. Doudxa : 

Thy truly acceptable and deeply interesting letter, of 
the second of eleventh month, was duly received ; and I 



196 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

did consider vety kind thy writing to me, and was parti" 
cularly glad thou gavesl me a copy of thy dear brother 
Caleb Gregg's entire letter, I have felt near sympathy 
with him, in his very close trials; and well I may. for he 

was treated by the Gurneyites in [owa very much in the 
same way that I was myself in New England; neither do 

I suppose that latitude and longitude make much differ- 
ence in the fruits and practices that proceed from the 

same >]>irit 

A- there was so much said in Ohio about the matter of 
my disownment by the separatists, and as they continue 

to render me so notorious by repeatedly publishing my 
name in print as a disowned person, cVc, I feci inclined to 
tell thee a, little of the manner in which it was effected, and 
let thee judge for thyself of the similarity of the proceed- 
ings with those in thy brother's case: and if thou thinkest 
it would he of any service, or afford the least encourage- 
ment to him, thou niayst send it, or a copy of it, to him, 
with the assurance of my near sympathy and true love in 
the fellowship of Buffering for the cause sake. Truly he 
is seldom out of my mind, although personally unknown; 
and I do sincerely and earnestly desire, that he and the 
dear Friends who have stood by him hitherto, may be en- 
abled to stand and maintain the ground they have taken, 
and be preserved from making any unnecessary conces- 
sions to the Gurneyite power, or any compromises with it ! 
. . . . Indiana Yearly Meeting was not only previously 
and entirely governed by a wholly arbitrary power, but 
has since fully identified itself with the separatists in 
Ohio! 

Hut I will proceed to the account of my own case; and 
in the first place I will say, that from the time I openly 
manifested uneasiness with the unsound doctrines of J. J. 
Q-urney, when he first came to this yearly meeting in 1838, 
his partisans gave out that I ought to be disowned for it, 
and sought secretly to prepare the way for it. and to have 
me treated with by the overseers. Bui it so happened 

that the overseers [at that time] of Newport Preparative 
Meeting, to which 1 belonged, had unity with me in my 
testimony against J. el. G., and would not do the bidding 



1 - 18. ] THOMAS B. GOULD. 197 

the clerk of the monthly meeting, who was b Btrong 
Gurnevite and a member of the yearly meeting's com- 
mittee, or take their advice to call in the aid of the over- 
>f Portsmouth Preparative, who were both Gurney- 
itea ; and bo the clerk of the monthly meeting, wh< 
name was D. T>., no doubt under the advice, or with the 
concurrence of the yearly meeting's committee (who were 
all Gurneyites to a main, set himself to wort to have the 

srseers of Newport removed, and to gel himself and 

another man who would do their bidding, appointed in the 

place of the old overseers. But it took them several years 

to accomplish this their purpose, for Rhode Island Monthly 

Meeting at that time, according to the admission or decla- 
ration of the clerk, was about equally divided on the sub- 
ject : and not only so, but in the mean time they took up 
John Wilbur's case, which kept them very busy for a long 
time, furnishing them full employment; and during this 
time also I asked for a certificate to proceed in marriage, 
which by our discipline tied their hands for a while; and 
after we were married, they tried for a while to see what 
effect they could have upon me, by changing their tactics, 
and showing much attention to my wife, in order as I sup- 
pose to gain her over to them. But finding her immovable, 
and having succeeded in removing the old overseers, and 
getting David Buffum, and Jethro F. Mitchell, appointed 
as such, and also in disposing of John Wilbur's case, and as 
they thought getting rid of him, they proceeded to lay a dear 
friend of mine, a member of this particular meeting, under 
dealing, upon a charge of unbecoming behavior in meet- 
ing; which being interpreted, was declared to be a want of 
unity with J. J. Gurney and Moses H. Beede, who was 
then a member of this meeting also. This was in 1842 
and 1843, and from 1838 until this time, I had never, nor 
in the course of my whole life, been so much as admonished 
respecting any misdemeanor by any member, either offi- 
cially or otherwise. Still, in an underhand way, and 
behind my back, D. B., and all the Gurneyites great and 
small, had been doing and saying everything in their power 
to lessen my influence and destroy my religious character; 
declaring, wherever and whenever they thought it would 

17* 



108 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1848. 

do, that I ought to be disowned; that the thing they most 
wished was to bave toe disowned, but that they did not 
how to get hold of me, &c. So thai in laving my 
friend, T. P. N., under dealing, I doubted not they ex- 
pected, through my advocacy of his o;t>e. to get hold of 

me: and accordingly, soon after he was disowned^ I was 
called on one day by Edward Wing and A -a Sherman, 
overseers of Portsmouth Preparative Meeting, a branch of 
R. I. Monthly Meeting. . . . [See letter to V. W.] 

Very Boon after this assurance that nothing but obedi- 
ence and harmonizing with that party, stood in the way 
of my promotion to great honor, I received an official visit 
from David Buffum and Jcthro P. Mitchell, the [new] 
overseers of Newport, in good earnest. They would not 
Bpecify what they had against me, except in the general 
declaration that " I was out of unity with the body ;" 
neither did they make any effort in any way for my resto- 
ration : but David Buffum, who was the chief speaker, 
treated me in a very haughty and imperious manner, say- 
ing that they intended to carry a complaint against me to 
the next preparative meeting. He said bo repeatedly, in 
great heat. L asked him what sort of a complaint they 
meant to carry ; but he would not tell me. saying it was 
sufficient for them to know ! I then asked, how I could 
be expected to answer to an unknown charge, or how they 
could know that 1 was unable to disprove it, or show it to 
be groundless \ They said, or rather D. B. said, that 
they knew well enough, and so did I. I pressed my right 
to Bee and know distinctly what was charged against me, 
before they carried a complaint to the preparative meet- 
ing. They would not, while together, give me any assu- 
rance that they would let me see it : but I). B. finally 
Bald, that they would not say positively that they would 
carry one to the next meeting, but that it was probable 
they should do so ; and so they left. But J. F. M., who 
was the more moderate of the two. and the mere tool of 
the Other, came back alone, and told me that he would 
try to let me know, before the preparative meeting, 
whether they would carry a complaint to it, and also to 
In m." see it [See letter to Y. W., 



I84i Til' !.I». 

ccounl of J, \ : . M. > visits alone. Speaking of 
one of these, after defending himself from the charge of 
ihing to promote a separation, he on as follows] : 

I lc said he did not doubt my sincerity, or that I belies ed 
it was my duty to do as 1 had done ; but that I ought to 
submit to the judgment and take the advice of my friends. 
1 asked him ii Buch could be supposed to be my friends, 
who had been seeking underhandedly, for five years, to 
destroy my religious character, and to deprive me of my 
right as a member of the Society, and saying whenever 
and wherever they thought it would bear, that the thing 
they most desired was to have me disowned ; and yet had 
never given me any advice upon the subject, all the time 
they had manifested such uneasiness with me behind my 
back! Was this friendly ? Could such as these be my 
friends '.' What would 1 gain, save the loss of my own 
peace of mind, by condemning, according to his own ac- 
knowledgment, a conscientious and consistent course, for 
the sake of pleasing or satisfying such as himself had also 
acknowledged had neither acted conscientiously nor con- 
sistently ; and such, too, as had certainly given their sup- 
port and countenance to the introduction and promulga- 
tion of unsound doctrines and wrong practices? Why, 
he said, that I ought to pin my faith upon their sleeve, 
that he did so himself; that he knew there were many 
wrong things in the Society, there always had been ; but 
that if the members of the yearly meeting's committee, 
such men as Rowland Green, John Meader, and others 
whom he named, were to advise him to do what he knew 
to be wrong, he would do it ! and let them take the re- 
sponsibility ! But I let him know, that my faith in the 
power of any man, or body of men, to release me from re- 
sponsibility and accountability for my own conduct, was 
not near so elastic or so blind as his appeared to be. And 
a great deal more of this sort passed between him and me, 
and the committee which was afterwards appointed to treat 

with me also [See letter to Y. W., for an account of 

the case being brought before the monthly meeting.] . . . 

Towards evening of the day on 

which their monthly meeting was held, I was standing in 



200 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

the door of my father's house, which opened on the street, 
as the mail-stage passed by into the town. In the stage 
was a man, who, I afterwards learned, had been that day 
appointed one of the committee to treat with me : and 
upon seeing me stand there, he threw up his hands, and 
cut up strange antics, calling out loudly, and apparently 
speaking to me, though I could not hear what he said as 
he rattled by in the stage, which was full of people, not 
members ; but I understood by his actions that he was 
very much pleased ! — and I told my wife that I had no 
doubt they had at length accomplished the design they 
had long entertained, of placing my name as an offender 
on the minutes of the monthly meeting. And sure 
enough, it was not long before this man came to my 
house, and said, the committee wished to have an oppor- 
tunity with me that morning ; which I consented to grant 
them ; and he with the other two men, and two women, 

accordingly came [See letter to Y. AY. 

for the details of the committee's visits.] 

They had many opportunities with me dur- 
ing a period of* several months that they kept my case 
along. In this time I was very ill indeed, and they did 
not hesitate to pursue me when I was too sick to see any 
company, and my life was despaired of by my friends and 
my physician. Some of their offers to visit me during 
this period my wife rejected, without my knowledge, for 
prudential reasons. But when I knew of their wish to see 
me, I always consented to it, as long as they pleased, 
after the first interview. Sometimes I said very little to 
them, not feeling raised up to do so, or, in other words, 
qualified for it. Then they would report to the monthly 
meeting, as I was told, that the young man was very much 
" meliorated," that bis illness had been of service to him, 
and that they were in hopes he would make an acknow- 
ledgment! And so they had my case depending from 
month to month, and did not make a minute against me 
until after the separation had occurred in Swanzey -Monthly 
Meeting, in Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, and also in 
Rhode [sland Monthly Meeting ; which, as sustained by 
Friends, dismissed my case from the minutes, and restored 



L] THOMAS i i.l>. 

me to my - and prn i member in unity 

an adjournment of the monthly meeting. hold that 
The Bepai on the same day, pretended t<> disown 

from their meeting, although I had never been :i meml 

of it 

TnoMAfl l>. Gould. 



To John Wilbur. 

Ni:w PORT, 1st nm., Ttli. 1 - 1 I. 
My DEAR FRIBND : 

1 really hope that our correspondence may 

no! cease, though it' it BhoulcL, 1 trust we shall continue to be 

epistles written in each other's hearts ; and then it mat- 
ters little how things arc as to the outward: for with the 
hidden fellowship and the inward life, outward Bigns bear 
Mnall comparison, except as they proceed from and are 
produced by it; when indeed they are truly pleasant, and 
often prove "like apples of gold in pictures of silver." 

We have heard with much concern of the illness of thy 
dear wife, and feel anxious to hear from thee more par- 
ticularly of her state. Really it does seem as if we 
were likely to be tried on all hands ; those who are dear 
to us, and to whom Ave have been accustomed to look for 
sympathy, and who have often ministered to our necessi- 
ties, and also to our encouragement, are either removed or 
being taken from us, while the combat thickens, and the 
strife increases. But He, whose the cause is. and for whom 
stand in jeopardy every hour, knoweth best what is 
: for us, and will doubtless cause all things to work 
together for our good, as our reliance is unreservedly 
placed upon Him 

. . . The difficulties in the Society have been so noised 
about in the town, and have produced such an excitement 
therein, that we have much work with the townspeople, 
who stop us at the corners of the streets, to inquire into 
the cause of it. When so inquired of, I have frequently 
thought fit to answer these sober inquiries, although 1 havt 
not yet pursued the plan of our adversaries, to go round 
and drum people up, and hunt them down, in order to 



202 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

make interest with them and to proselyte them ; neverthe- 
less I can bo1 trust and believe that the witness for truth 
in the hearts of some of these, who are tumid as in the 
highways and hedges, ha* etimes been reached, and 
that they have been thereby convinced, "that He who is 
with as is more than is with them," notwithstanding all 
their lond boasting. A Baptist minister here lately took 

an opportunity With father, and afterwards with me, to 

express his sympathy with as. He told me that he very 
much desired to hit upon Borne plan of reconciliation be- 
tween the parties, and that those who did remain upon the 
ancient foundation of true Quakerism should he relieved 
from their sufferings, and restored to their rights and pri- 
vileges, and the others should forbear their tyranny and 
renounce their errors, that so we might he spared the 
reproach of an open Bchism. He thought a fair investi- 
gation, a reference to impartial arbiters, whose decision 
by mutual agreement should be binding, — and if such 
could not he found in the Society, to put it out to godly 
men of other persuasion- — would he useful; and asked me 
if I was willing he should propose it to the other party, 
with whom he is acquainted, and to whom, lie said, he had 
Btrongly recommended moderation! I could not help 
smiling at this, and told him I was quite -willing he should 
make the proposition, provided he did it on his own re- 
sponsibility : but that it would he in vain, that the breach 
could not be BO healed, neither would such a measure be in 
accordance with our principles; that avc were quite willing 
to Buffer in this cause whatever they might he permitted 
to inflict, although it should extend to excommunication 
itself (for a time) from a Society which we dearly loved; 
relying upon Him, whose the cause is, for our final deliv- 
erance and justification, which, in His time, we were fully 
persuaded, He would show, &c. To which he emphatically 
replied, k * You have not come to that experience but 

through deep suffering; they do not feel SO ! ' I thought 
there Was BOme life in this answer. " It really did me 
good to hear it," as John Roberts said of the old Bishop. 

What a pity it is, these goodly people keep up such a 
noise and bustle, as to be much strangers to the true 



L844.] Til l.h. 

- William Penn -aid. to the "mystery of the 

j Bilen rod how much more passing Btrange, that 

do not kiKNN , thai [srael doth riot coAside 

1 sometimes think, yea, often, thai the former, who, in 

in with the latter, may not perhaps improperly 

be railed "publicans," will enter the kingdom, will under- 

,(1 the myst( fore them! For the Lord can call 

(and will He not call?) those that arc not, as those 

that arc 

T. B. (in, ld. 



In writing to Ethan Foster, under date of 1st mo. 15th, 
1844, 1 : — 

In the immediate prospect before me, of being 
deprived <»f my rights ami privileges in a Society which I 

dearly love, which are as precious a- ever in the general, 
however they may be viewed in this particular section of 
it. — I can Bay, without boasting, that I feci much quietness 
ami peace, am ready to count it all joy, and to be thankful 

that I am permitted to suffer in this cause, although it 
should extend to the final loss of all, which, as to the out- 
ward connection with the Society, I hold most dear. 

Farewell. 

From T. B. G. to Joseph Kite. 

Newport, 2d mo. 11th, 1844. 

My dbab Friend, Joseph Kite: 

It is now a long time since I received a very acceptable 
communication from thee ; and although I have often — 
yea, very often — thought of thee and it, in the interim, 
yet one thing or another has hitherto prevented me from 
giving thee this kind of assurance of my love and affec- 
tionate remembrance. But of latter time I have thought 
more particularly of addressing thee : and although it may 
l»e only afl the voice of " one born out of due time," or as 
the communication of the disciples formerly, when they 
" walked by the way and were sad," yet I trust it may not 
be wholly unacceptable to thee, who, I doubt not, art 



204 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

often engaged in t lie consideration of those things yhich 
have happened in Jerusalem, being thyself no stranger to 
the afflictions of Joseph in this day of sore bondage, as in 
the lan<l of Egypt. But, my endeared friend, whatever 
may be the trials and provings of our faith and patience, 
it is an unspeakable consolation to feel and know the arm 
of the Lord to be underneath for our support ; and that 
He will not suffer as to be tried beyond what He will ena- 
ble us to endure, as the eye of the mind is kept Bingly upon 
Him ; and that "there is none like unto the God of Je- 
shurun, who rideth upon the heavens in thy help, and in 
JIi> excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, 
and underneath are the everlasting arms." I may acknow- 
ledge that I was never so established and confirmed in 
these truths as in times of sore conflict, when all other 
help seemed to fail, and the poor mind was utterly shaken 
ami broken off from reliance on any other power. Then 
it is that the arm and power of the Lord is revealed, as in 
days of old, as in the land of Egypt, and in the field of 
Zoan. And truly, much occasion indeed have some of the 
poorest and hindmost of the flock and family, to magnify 
and adore the right arm and power of the Lord, who has 
enabled them to say, "I am exceedingly joyful in all my 
tribulations :" for as these have abounded, the consolations 
of the Gospel have also abounded, to His praise who alone 
is worthy and transcendcntly glorious in holiness, fearful 
in praises, doing wonders. 

This case of is an aggravated one. But it is a 

Co 

consolation to us, as his crosses have increased, to see him 
bow submissively to the yoke; he having, in accordance 
with the experience of the faithful in all ages, found the 
Power under the cross; and we cannot doubt, if he con- 
tinues faithful, that he will find the crown, beyond it. 
But this warfare against spiritual wickedness in high plac 
is indeed grievous, and waxes hotter and hotter. Many 
there are who have fallen and are falling, both on the 
right hand and on the left : so that, amid the general 
desolation and gloom, it requires no small degree of faith 
to believe, without doubting, the ancient declaration, v * The 
destruction shall not come nigh thee." Nevertheless, I 



1844.] tii< u>. 

hiw mb\ bul the Lamb and His 

faithful followers will have tl ry. . . . 

OOIlBider it of much importance wh:it may !.«•- 

rf me, — thai is^ of much importance to other people, — 

; 1 realty feel lerable delicacy in speaking of it a1 

all: nevertheless, in respect of the kind interest which 

thou hast been pleased to manifest in me, all unworthy of 

it as I feci, 1 will venture just to say, that .-ill the male 

of this monthly meeting have been engaged in 

laboring with me occasionally, for several mouths pa 

and as they are all members either of the (Quarterly or 

:rlv meeting's committee, theV have sometimes pro- 

to labor in one of these capacities, and sometimes 

in all three, and that too in the same interview. 

One of them, in a subsequent interview, freely declared 
that I had been exemplary and consistent with my profes- 
sion, from my childhood up to. this time; hut he said that 

they considered, that I had great influence over others, 

and that the good of the body required my disownment. 
notwithstanding; for I exercised that influence of which 
he had spoken, to draw Friends away from the body, and 
to oppose them in their prominent measures; I told him 
he was entirely mistaken with regard to mv having ex- 
erted any influence which I might possess, adversely to the 
I and unity of the body; that, on the contrary, I had 
krted it, sis I felt hound to do, to prevent a breach of 
unity, by taking a firm stand against the introduction of 
unsound doctrines into the Society, which had ever been 
the source of schisms in the Church. He said, if I would 
only acknowledge my error in opposing that certificate 
[the returning certificate for Joseph John Gurney, in New- 
England Yearly Meeting] and other measures in the 
yearly and quarterly meetings, and promise not to op- 
pose them in future, they would not molest me further, 
and a very little would do. But I told him I could not do 
any such thing; and that while I valued my birthright 
very highly. — as, by his admission, my whole course 
through life had given evidence, — I would sooner be de- 
prived of it than do violence to the testimony of the Spirit 
in mv conscience, which bore witness against those doc- 

18 



200 LIKE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

tribes, and the "prominent measures' ' which had been 
taken in consequence of their introduction and adoption. 

They have sometimes appeared quite troubled in their 
own minds during these interviews, and in Bome measure 
to feel the Truth. And for their Bakes it is, that 

1 am made willing to inert them, wherever and whenever 
they choose to require it: although, as I have not Bpared 
to tell them, I do not consider that they have any right to 
treat me as an offender, and of this they themselves seem 

to be sensible 

With unfeigned love to thee and thine. 

I am thy affectionate friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 

To John Wilbur. 

Newport, 2.1 mo., 29th, 18 i l. 
My dear Friend : 

I have been greatly disappointed, inasmuch as I have 
not heard a word from thee, or from my dear friends at 
Westerly, since the quarterly meeting. I have felt no 
little embarrassment and mortification in respect of my 
failing to reach Providence myself, after having written to 
C. Perry for the purpose, among some others, of encou- 
raging him to be faithful in that particular. But I was 
really not a little sick, when the time came, and equally 
disappointed; for after all, in no ordinary degree, I did 
desire to u keep that passover;" albeit I knew that bonds 
and afflictions awaited me there, with a double portion of 
bitter herbs. But then the love of truth and Friends 
sometimes, through favor, casteth out fear, and maketli 
willing, yea, and more than willing, to suffer both for it 
and them. I know not why it is so (whether from our 
isolated, solitary condition, or otherwise), but I certainly 
never did experience so much of an enlargement of heart, 
and of the abounding of true and unfeigned love towards 
the whole household of faith, and to you, my dear friends, 
in particular, as of latter time. Truly this is what makes 
me so anxious to hear from you, as 1 cannot Bee you, 

which is more desirable, and, were it practicable on my part, 



!."] K>UU>. 

uoul be reali Bu1 prisoners must wait, if it 
ith pal th- 


Having bu neighborhood, I lately spent a 

night with our dear friends, Setb and Mary Davis* 1 

ad them more feeble in health than I had ever before 
:h still about. They are, as might have 

:i expected, greatly bowed down under a sense of their 
and the Church's great loss, in the removal of dear James 
Tucker. I passed Vf. (J. s.*> door twice, and very much 
wished to have called there, but could not : and it was well 
1 did not, for 1 broke down in Hilbourn Woods, about 
halfway from the head of Westport to the bridge, which 
made me very late home, and a very cold tedious time I 
had W. S. has closed up his business there, and 

the prospect is that he will leave this yearly meeting, 
whicn 1 very much regret, and sincerely hope he will i 
himself suffer loss by it. Ah, it is a great point to know 

where our lot is cast, and to keep in it. I am more and 
more persuaded that it' Ave. who are more immediately 
under bondage, suffering, and reproach, are but favored to 
keep the faith, and to abide in the patience, we shall 
and in our lot at the end of the days." Still, it is 
lifficult to refrain from saying, the Lord hasten it in his 



*. 



time ! 



Jethro Mitchell has had another opportunity with me, of 
at two hours and a half, though he denied its being 
official : and I have also submitted to 's falla- 
cious and unfruitful labors. She did try hard to convince 
me how dearly they all loved me, and how highly they 

med me. desiring my progress in my calling, cVc. : which 
her solemn asseverations, I was enabled to meet with direct 
evidence to the contrary. Some of the facts and circum- 
3 thus adduced, she, as the shortest, easiest method, 
freely admitted were very improper in those who acted 
them ; hut still, she said their love and good will to me re- 
mained unchanged through all ! She told me, I could not 
think how much the prospect of my disownment troubled 
her. she could not sleep at nights in consequence of it, 
could not bear to think of it, &c. To this I responded. 



1 111" AM) LSTTBA8 OF [1844. 

that T neither doubted it troubled her, nor marvelled at it ; 
and that I believed it would trouble her n. ind be 

heavier and bard< r For hei ar, if it did not, with other 

things, prove more than Bhe could bear. She said she 
wished the prospect was as hard to me as it was to her. 
I told her I would not have her think me insensible of the 
hardship and injustice of being deprived of my birthright 
without a cause ; which I was not disposed to Bell for a 
mess of pottage, nor at liberty to exchange, for another, the 
inheritance 01 my forefathers. But as! had labored after 
patience and resignation to whatever they might be per- 
mitted to do with me, 1 had found that which rendered 
hard things easy and bitter things sweet. This silenced 
her on this point, and she really seemed to feel it. 

But the next day after I saw , being the day 

before the last preparative meeting, they hatched up 
complaint : and Jethro having promised me a sight of it, 

hut being ashamed to come with it himself, sent it by. F. C; 

> • 

hut with a -trie! charge not to give or allow me to take a 
copy; though lie informed me that it was to he presented 
the next day [which was not done], and expressed much 

Surprise at the quietness and peace which I evinced on the 

occasion ; saying that he thought, if they were all in as 
good a frame of mind, these things might be easily settled ; 
and if the overseerd could see me as he saw me. and hear 
what he had heard, he thought they would not he disposed 
to carry this thing any further. But I told him they had 
n me under no other circumstances, neither had I mani- 
fested any different feelings; that I could truly say I felt 
no hardness towards any of them, nothing like revenge or 
retaliation, although they were disposed to persecute me 
and Others to the xi^ry extent of their power, and were 
not therefore to be blamed for not going further; hut on 

the contrary 1 really pitied them and deplored their con- 
dition (especially I). B.V). belifeving they could do no 

other, in the spirit they were in; ami that they were Hike 
a troubled sea. which could not rest, but whose waters 

cast up mire and dirt" continually 

T. 1]. Gould. 



1844.] OM 18 ' LD. 



Fh u.\ Comfort to Thomas I». Gould. 

: month, 1 1. 

m; Friend : 

\\\ mind is almost continually with you in your afflic 
te, but 1 do not know what I can do more than to sym- 
hize with you, which I think I can feelingly, having 
jsed through a similar state of thin;.: When we arc 

ply engaged for the welfare of the Society and its 
members, then to be accounted as enemies to the truth, 
and evil-doers, dealt with and disowned from Society as 
h by those whom we have in time past taken Bweet 
counsel with — very close are the conflicts and trials of 
':. especially when we see them trampling the order and 
bimonies of truth under their feet. Oh! this requires 
much patience, and deep indwelling upon the Bure founda- 
l, — l>nt as this travail is kept to, and this ground niain- 
ied, clear I am that all things, that in Infinite Wisdom 
may he permitted or ordered to come upon US, will work 
together for good, not only for us, but for the cause of 
our dear Lord and .Master; for lie can control the destroyer 
and his evil designs, and turn them to His own glory, and 
bring a heavenly blessing upon us; for He worketh some- 
times by ways as much higher than ours as the heavens 
above the earth. This my soul knoweth right well, for 
He did open a way for my deliverance when or where I 
saw no way. So it will be with thee, and with all the rest 
of the Lord's faithful servants, as there is a keeping the 
word of his patience; for lie will keep them in the hour 
of temptation, and glorious will be their crown of reward; 
while the enemies of truth will fret and weary themselves 
and shall not prevail, but shall howl for very anguish of 
soid ; which at times is the case with some of those who 
<t from US, bv the same outgoing: spirit that is with you. 
It is the same spirit, though under a different covering, for 
the fruit that it brings forth is the very same. Oh ! 1 saw 
it as clear as ever I saw the sun at noonday, those that are 

• Ezra Comfort had suffered much persecution from the Hicksites, 

and been disowned by them in the early appearance of that schism. 

18* 



210 LI] - LBTTEltfl OF [1844. 

led by it will fall, a did with us, because they ha 

do foundation. It is out grand enemy's delight, after lie 
lias exalted for a time, then g< down, — thus great and 

grievous will be their fall ! 

I have often remembered our Saviour*.- testimony con- 
certing the inhabitants of Jerusttletn: "Oh! that thou 

hadst known, in this thy day. the things that belong to 

thy pence, hut now they are hid frdlU thine ej This 

being the such call evil good, and L r <><>d evil. It i- 

no marvel then that they ]>er>eeute their Divine Ma-ter 
and His servants; nay. they cannot do otherwise hut 

on waxing worse and wotee, I mourn tor them, for they 

are in that state (the leaders of them) that the Apostle 

described, thai have tasted and bandied of the good Word 

of life, hut have "fallen away." 

I have heard they are about disowning thee. Heed it 
not, — keep near thy Divine Master, and He will enable 

thee to rejoice tha! thou art Worthy to suffer for His name's 

Bake; and He will enable thee to fill up thy measure of 
His sufferings which are left behind, for the body's sake. 
which is Hi- Church. If they numbered Him among the 

transgressors, think it not strange if we are accounted 

such. After the v;<>'>d Spirit departed from Saul because 
of transgressions, then it was that an evil spirit troubled 
him, and he sought to slay righteous David because his 
ways were upright, but he knew his were evil, and in his 
rage, Cain-like, slew the priests of the Most High without 
a cause, and in his jealousy and fury, hunted David to 
take his life, as a partridge is hunted in the mountains, 
even after he was convinced he had sinned and done 
wickedly. Ah! 1 have often thought of David's appeal 
to Saul, since I was in your land, when I have looked at 
the case of dear John Wilbur, and now at thine; for they 
are endeavoring to drive you from your "inheritance in 
the Lord." saymg unto you by their conduct. " I b», serve 
other gods." As the end of Saul was, so will their spi- 
ritual end be. unless they repent : but as David trusted in 
the Lord, and kept His righteous law, lie preserved him 

out of all evil, and set him on the throne, to reign over all 
[srael in Saul's stead. Thus it maybe with you, my dear 



!.] THOMAS I u>. 21 1 

friends. The time may comi I ve it will come, 

when, instead of their disowning you without a cause, you, 
•in,' of you, will have to disown them for tlu-ir trans- 
ire had to do with those who went out from 
or they were not of us. 
1 have heard they have confirmed the judgment of the 
monthly meeting, by the quarter, in dear John Wilbur's 
I hope he will appeal to the yearly meeting, that 
all the members may get to know what an arbitrary spirit 
there is amongst you, and that all that may be unjustly 
owned hereafter may like* ise appeal. Ii is a duty thi 
e to the Society, and to the cause of Truth, let the re- 
sult be what it may, and however humiliating and trying 
it may be. 1 hope the time will come when you may 
the way I if that outgoing spirit continues to go on i to sepa- 
rate from them, and represent your situation to some other 
body. There is certainly a large number in the limits of 
your yearly meeting, who cannot unite with the course in 
which things are carried on amongst you ; for the heavenly 
order which was established under divine direction by our 
early Friends, is totally laid waste in the yearly meeting, 
well as in its subordinate branches. All is done or 
rruled by committees, and every one that cannot unite 
with such a course of procedure, and ventures to let his 
dissent be known, is accounted disorderly and out of unity. 
While this is the case — while these committees do all the 
liness, first out of meetings, then in meetings — all con- 
cluded on out of meetings, and these conclusions carried 
through by the same persons in meetings, it is but a sham 
to hold such meetings ! Such a state of things as there 
IS in your yearly meeting, has never before been in any 
yearly meeting since we have been a people — a body w holly 
arbitrary, not governed by its own discipline, or its own 
decisions — which I was a witness to when in your meet- 
ing; but my desire is that all Friends, everywhere within 
your limits, may undauntedly and fearlessly (except the fear 
of the Lord, but in His fear, and in the authority which 
He gives) stand forth, and bear a faithful testimony against 
such an evil practice; for any one wdio has clear discern- 
ment must see that such a course of procedure, if pursued 



212 LIFE AND LETTEBS OF [1844. 

by that, and all other similar bodies, will ultimately de- 
stroy the So for no association can continue without 
order and government. Oh what a departure from Truth! 
For Truth always leads into a blessed order and heavenly 
government; but this outgoing Bpirit has always been a 
wrathful, turbulent, persecuting spirit. My very soul's 
desire is, that we who are favored to see these things, may 
be preserved in great watchfulness and fear, that we may 
be enabled to walk in uprightness amidst these accumu- 
lated trials, and Bhow forth, by our meekness and humility, 

that we are following our meek, patient, and suffering 

Lord. 

Please give my love to all our Buffering friends as oppor- 
tunity may offer. Tell them I am almost continually with 

them in spirit and in Buffering. We are not exempt from 
trials here by the same restless spirit. I sometimes am 
ready to fear that our trials will be very heavy ; hut 
amidst these gloomy prospects, I am at times strength- 
ened by a degree of living faith, that after this day of 
shaking is passed over — for I believe the time has come, 

and is coming, when not only the earth but the heavens 
also will he shaken — that there mav not anything remain 
in Zion, the Church of Christ, hut that which cannot he 
shaken. Oh, saith my soul, may the Lord hasten that 
glorious and happy day, when the mountain of his house 
shall he established on the top of the mountains ! Then 
there will be again a flocking unto it, as there was in days 
that are past. 

I have seen a letter written to Alice Knight by dear 
John Wilbur. I was rencwedly comforted in hearing it 
read, being satisfied that he, amidst all the storms and 

tempests that have been permitted to beat against him, is 

-till favored to keep on that sure, immovable, and eternal 
foundation, that never can be shaken by all the combined 
powers of darkness ; and a- he keeps on it, it will keep 
and preserve him unto the end, and after this scene of 
conflict is over, glorious will be his crown. And I desire 
to be his companion unto the end. even if it may be in 
bonds for the QospeFs sake. 1 shall always be glad to 
receive letters from him, thee, or any of my dear suffering 
friends that feel a freedom to write 



1844.] rno qould, 218 

II. Gardner, and .-ill our dear Bufferi 
thIs tin I abated from * hat h w a 

m in person, bul in 1 ; and I 

pe it will increase, until \n< i are bound ap ther in 

that bundle of life that will never be separated. Ami 

the tender feeling of love and life thai I bad in parting 

in thee and thy dear companion, I trust will never 

I from my memory whilst I remain in muta- 

ity. 

Thy affectionate friend, 

K/.i;\ Comfort, 

From John Wilbub to T. B. G, 

Bopkwtoy, third month, 6th, 1844 

Mi Friend, Thomas B. Gould : 

How corn- 
ting, confirming, and strengthening, that truly patri- 
:hal epistle, which thon hast copied from that man of 
1 who has freely given himself up to be a fellow-sufferer 
with the Buffering seed in this land ! On my owfci part, I 
feed unworthy of the sympathies and fellowship of such a 
man ; hut more abundantly unworthy of the mercies and 
loving-kindness of Him. who not only visits His persecuted 
and suffering children with His own immediate manifesta- 
tion of lli> peace-giving and life-giving presence, but also 
is pleased to raise up and prepare eminent servants and 
handmaidens, through an experimental partaking of the 
ic cup of suffering, and by the constraining of His love 
and power, willingly to place themselves side by side with 
those who are placed as a mark for the archers, and to 
endure their part of the reproaches which have fallen on 
them. What shall we render ? 

Well, my dear Thomas, I found other comforting things 
on the sheet which thou sent me, besides the copy from our 
dear Ezra Comfort. I now allude to the account of thy- 
self being so mercifully sustained and comforted, under 
the extreme pressure of persecution by false brethren. 
In this Ave mutually participate, and, as I trust, at times 
rejoice in the goodness of God, and give thanks to His 



214 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

bless ed name, because He upholdeth and encampeth round 
about those whom !!<■ hath put forth in defence of the 
truth and His own exalted . May our faith- 

fulness and obedience be commensurate, in some degree, 
with the greatness of His purposes, the glory of the cause, 
and the favors which He bestows ! My almost constant 
prayer is, thai He who hath called us to Berve Him in 
the endurance of tribulations for His great name's Bake, 
will be our keeper and our preserver through all : and 
that all may redound to His honor and to His own eter- 

■r 

nal glory 

J. Wilbur. 

Draft of a Letter from T. B. G. to . 



Newport, fourth month. 9th, Lfi 

My dear and much-esteemed Friend: 

It might not 

have been amiss if I had written ere they laid mo under 
dealing, feeling as I did at different times, more particu- 
larly engaged to it. just previously to that circumstance, 

which may now render this unacceptable and improper ; 

and it' it should, it will only go into the scale with other 
weights and burdens which have nearly overbalanced thy 
poor correspondent, ami which at times he is ready to fear 
will quite overbalance him. 

I do not mean to complain, but if those who are hunt- 
ing after my life, who are endeavoring to deprive me of 
my inheritance in the Lord and among His people, should 
l»e permitted so far to succeed as to change the feelings of 
the latter t<e,vards mo. it would he grievous indeed; it 
would he cruel and doubly hard to hear; and I freely own 
to thee thai I dread nothing more, except the loss of life 
itself. It Beems a very serious matter to utter it, although 
it is strictly true, that in my extremity, 1 am BOmetimes 
ready to say : Even if my life is given me for a prey, 
what good shall it do me. or who shall show me any good ": 

ing " Israel'" acknowledged* me not ! Ah ! my life is 

bound up with my people ! I was never more deeply and 

lingly Bensible of it than now. when on the very point 



1844.] TH0MA8 B. GOULD. 215 

ted from them. < >h ! the bitter- 
. and the cruelty of their n rath, n ho 
would separate thai which the Lord hath joined togctl i 

u indeed, at times and seasons, when it pleaseth Him 
who is Lord of all, favored to Bee thai they cannot eff 

lly and permanently do it. Xel when He hideth Him- 

:. and nothing cap be Been bnl my grand enemy within, 
and his agents and servants without, how he does multiply 
and augment my fears in this and other respects ! For he 
knoweth how tender I really am on this point ; and my 
outward enemies know it too; and persuaded 1 am thai 
they are not without hope thai Friends will cast us off, 
they have done and are doing. 

But 1 will try to re-train this gush of personal feeling, 
though, until self be slain, it will frequently appear: and 
perhaps thou mayst excuse it, as I do not pretend to have 
conquered that foe; than which I often think and feel, 
we have, or I have, few greater or more formidable to 
overcome in this warfare. And I will venture to expr< 
a hope that you, at your approaching solemnity, may be 
enabled, not for the Bake of the persons who suffer here, 
but for the cause 1 sake, for which, as I trust, they Buffer, 
to do something, which may have a tendency to promote 
it, or at any rate to prevent its falling into disrepute. So 
far as we can Bee and judge, it is not gaining ground here. 
The timid, who have hoped against hope for some time, 
are falling back and joining the ranks of the aliens almost 
dailv : and unless some decisive measures are taken soon, 
things will undoubtedly get worse and worse. 

I find that many very choice Friends with you, have 
strong hope that the two appeal cases, coming before our 
next yearly meeting, Avill produce a powerful effect therein. 
But it does not appear probable, to those who have had 
perhaps a better understanding of the way in which things 
are managed here, than they could well have, unless they 
had been eye-witnesses from the beginning, and so had 

in the "material," as one Friend said, of which this 

irly meeting is composed. Many who have perhaps 
some sincerity left, are so terror-stricken, that it would 
seem to require almost if not quite a miracle, to enable 



216 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844*. 

them to rise above it, and miracles are not expected in 


My dear Martha And myself have, within a few days, 
returned from a visit to our mutually dear friend, John 
Wilbur. We spent about a week in Eopkinton and \Y 
terly, to our great faction ; and Friends there are 

aerally well. Dear J. Wilbur docs not appear to ha 
contracted even the smell of fire upofl his garments; 

though SO long in the furnace heated seven times hotter 
than it was Wont to be heated. I thought I never saw 

him clothed with so much brightness before. In sitting 
with him, an expression of William Penn's concerning 
George Fox I think, was much in my mind: "That his 
very presence expressed a religions awe.'" And his gen- 
tleness, condescension, meekness, and humility, as well as 
his patience under suffering, and resignation to it, which 
IS not in this day perhaps often exceeded, if it be equalled, 
are truly engaging, very instructive, and encouraging to 

those who hate an eye open to see through the clouds of 
dust which have been raised against him. His precious 

wife has been quite ill this spring, but is now much better 
in health. Jlis and her friends have been apprehensive, I 
believe, that he would be bereaved of his true help-meet, 
whose real worth is best known by those who are m 
intimately acquainted with her 



From T. B. G. to Ezra Comfort. 

Newport, 14th of 4th month, 1844. 
My endeared aged Friend, Ezra Comfort; 

Twice, since 1 received thy very kind and acceptable 

letter, 1 have commenced writing to thee, and in both in- 
stances, covered no inconsiderable portion of my sheets ; 
hut meeting with unexpected hindrances in completing 
what I wisheel to say, they have been laid aside, like the 
writer, as useless and out of date. I now merely mention 

it to let thee Bee that 1 have not heen unmindful of thv 

< 

kindness and paternal care, of which, indeed, I feel 
wholly unworthy, and also of addressing thee in this way. 

Neither do I seem to have anything to say now, which can 



1844.] iflOM is i i.i'. 217 

g : and yet it does app< 
due i«» th 
.... [t is ii"^ more than a v ncc my dea r 

and self returned from a visit to dear J. Wilbur and some 
oth( our friends in Hopkinton and Westerly. We 

found them generally well in all respects; and 1 beli< 

it was to our mutual satisfaction. It was trulv in 

» 

ad edifying to be with J. W., and to behold his 

meekness and humility, patience under suffering, and 

ation to it. The savor of life is to be fell in bis 

apany; and the expressions of David seem verified in 
him, " They thai be planted in the house of the Lord 
shall flourish in the courts of our God; they shall still 
bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fal and fiour- 
ishii For notwithstanding he hath refused the portion 

of the king's meat, and the polluted wine also, yet he hath 
thriven upon the pulse and water, yea, upon the bread of 
adversity and the water of affliction. 

My mind is much with you, in this the time of your 
yearly meeting, not without some feeling like the pro- 
phet, when he said, "0 Judah! keep thy solemn feasts, 
perform thy vows:" believing also, that "in Judah 
God is known, that His name is great in Israel, that His 
habitation is in Jacob, and His dwelling-place in Zion." 
And in the strength of Him who reigneth King in the 
midst <>i' her. may you stand and abide; clearly manifi 
ing to her and your enemies, that you "have a strong 
city," and that " salvation is appointed for walls and bul- 
warks.'" And so, a banner being given you because of 
the truth, you will appear terrible unto them, and they 
will flee before you as the chaff is driven by the wind from 
the threshing-floor. But lest I should exceed my bounds, 
I will forbear. Nevertheless my cup seems full; and is it 
strange that we should fix our eyes steadfastly upon you, 
and expect somewhat of you ? 

I have thought, if you could only address an epistle to 
this yearly meeting, clearly pointing out the ground and 
cause of things with us, and remonstrating against th 
things, that great benefit would result from it, if it 
were written in the power and authority of that Spirit 

19 






218 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1844. 

which is as a Bword; and which is not only "a discerner 
of the thoughts and intents of the heart," but is able to 
make a separation between thai which is of the Lord, and 
that which is not of Him. For these people, however 
they may and do intrench themselves in their strong* 
holds, are exceeding Bore, and very jealous <>f their 
honor, as they esteem it. They despise correction, and 
will not bear reproof; both of which, as the regular cor- 
respondents of this yearlj meeting, you have a right to 
give : and arc you not bound, if the original object of a 
correspondence between different yearly meetings is carried 
out, to give it ? It doc- seem as it' there was never more 
necessity for the use of great plainness of speech. Great 
would l>c the relief to those who are suffering here, and ap- 
parently without a remedy, as it respects the members) of 
this yearly meeting. For although I perceive that several 
valuable Friends amount you have strong hope that those 
with us. who do not unite with the proceedings of our ad- 
versaries, will, when they ( L r et to be more fully informed, 
rise it]* and rebel against them, and put them down; yet 
those who have had perhaps a better opportunity of judg- 
ing, do not see any reasonable ground for such a hope, 
unless there Bhould he some very efficient help from abroad. 
1 believe it would be as easy for the Ethiopian to change 
his >kin. as for the class of Friends referred to to rise 
above the fear of man. and the terror by which they are 
Stricken down. Indeed, there seems to be, even among 
those of whom we had hoped better things, an increasing 
disposition to get over, swallow down, and reconcile, or 
rather, to be reconciled to, things which they at least have 

known to be wrong, and in direct violation of the truth. 

And is there not great reason to fear that such will remain 
servants forever? Oh, this desire for ease, together with 

the fear of man. is a snare into which many, very many, 
have {'alien, and arc falling — for the number is apparently 
increasing! And our adversaries are very busy, throwing 

dust continually into their eyes, and heaping reproaches 
upon us. X<> Stone is left unturned by tliein: their en- 
gines are constantly at work, both day and night; yea, 
I and land are encompassed to make one proselyte. 



1844.] MOM L8 B. QOUUfc 219 

While, on our part, nothing is done, save what may be 
accomplished by an endeavor to Buffer patiently ; For, com- 
paratively speaking, ire open not our mouths, but rather 
lie in Backeloth and ashes, although, it may be, u unburied, 
in the Btreets of the great city, where also our Lord was 
- crucified," as silent witnesses againsi them and 
their doings! Oh! the mockings, Bcoffings, and revilings 
which we meet with ! Great, too, are their rejoicings "vei- 
ns, in <uir suffering Btate ; Bhaking their heads at us as they 
pass, and Baying, in a language well understood by some, 
" All, ha ! so would we have it !" 

But there is, through adorable mercy, much consolation 
in the assurance, that it' they should be permitted to " kill 
the body" (which, in some instances, seems not wholly 

improbable), there is no more they can do, unless th 
things should unhappily have the effect to drive us off from 
the sure Foundation. And great indeed is the danger felt 
to l»e: for the grand enemy within is as busy as his ser- 
vants and ministers without : and when his purpose is not 
effected by his roaring as a lion, then the form of a ser- 
pent is assumed, in its crooked windings and twinings 
round the poor and ofttimes beclouded traveller in a wil- 
derness of woe, because of the absence of Him who alone 
can cause the " reeds and rushes" to spring up "in the 
habitation of dragons' where each lay," and the desert to 
fc * rejoice and blossom as the rose." At such seasons, when 
He is thus pleased to appear in His own divine Light and 
Life, and to discover and make manifest the enemy by 
the light of His countenance, and to quicken, deliver, and 
save the soul from the power of the serpent by His life, 
then indeed we can be exceeding joyful in all our tribula- 
tions. But it is extremely difficult to keep the faith and 
patience, when left as it were to one's own; which does 
happen, or is permitted, while great darkness is felt over 
all the land, as from the sixth hour unto the ninth, and 
we are compelled to cry out in very anguish, "Why hast 
Thou forsaken me?" But, who is sufficient for these 
things': and, who shall be able to stand? — are queries 
almost continually arising in my mind ; and truly I am 
often, yea, very often, greatly distressed with fear, lest 



220 LITE AND LETTERS OF [18 I L 

the serpenl who beguiled Eve may have beguiled me, and 
thai I Bhall not be able to stand, but Bhall b< a prey 

to my enemies. 

Thou seest, my dear and truly honored friend, thai I 
have written to thee in great freedom. Not that 1 con- 
Bider it a light matter to address one bo far above me 3 in 
every respect ; but because, if I write at all, I must do it 
freely, and as things present ; for I know not howto write 
;i studied, formal letter. Ami as a kind father Bometin 
allows his little child to use freedom with him, and ex- 
cuses it. if he go< b i"" far, in respect of his youth and inex- 
perience, >«> 1 hope thou mayst feel towards me; who am 
the leasl and hindmost of the flock, if indeed one of that 
number; and having, at any rate, no other claim than a 
feeling sense that 1 do love the brethren, and a true will- 
ingness, yea, a strong desire, to be in subjection to them, 
however stubborn and rebellious I may be accounted by 
those who Bay they are Jews, and are not. And if thou 
Bhouldst feel incline d to write to me, I beseech thee spare 
not any advice, reproof, or correction that thou mayst 
feel disposed to give, in any respect or as to any particu- 
lar; for I could receive it from thee, and that too, as a 
great kindness: and I do wish thou wouldst write tome 
whenever and as often as thou mayst find freedom. Thy 
last was a greater comfort to me, than I have language to 
e<»nvey an adequate idea of. Having passed through a 
similar trial thyself, to that which I am now under, though 
not in so much weakness, thou canst understand the temp- 
tation- peculiar to it: but it does seem as if none but 
those who have travelled in the same path, can fully 
realize the hair-breadth trials to which such are subjected. 
And I can truly Bay, that next to the loss of the Divine 
love and favor, comes in the fear of being estranged and 

iarated from His people, cast out upon the wide world, 

without either house or home, in a visible church sei 

and therefore exposed to greater dangers and manifold 
privations. Eel I dare not compromise or retract the 
ground which ha- given my adversaries bo much offence ; 
although, 1 doubt not. great weakness has been mani- 
fested, in my yet sincere endeavors to maintain that 

ground. 



1844,] Thomas b. GOULD. 221 

:nn«'t but lope that t 1m >u ix) ay si be required to come 

k to this Bo ton government, although, in a manner, 

"banished upon pain of death." .... 1 do hope, 

if it should be laid upon thee, thou will give up to it, 

nothing doubting. But do not misunderstand me* as to 

the ground of my speaking of it 

My dear parents and sistn* unite in dear love to thee, 
in which my Martha and I would affectionately join them, 
an<l also to thy wife and every member of thy family, as 
if named. And so I conclud 

Thy unworthy but sincere friend, 

T. B. Gould, 

To Peleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 5th mo., 12th, L844. 
My dear Friend : 

Without having any doubt as to the legality 
of the will, or our proceedings under it [the Greene Trust], 
I do dread a lawsuit, even more than disownment bv 
Rhode Island Monthly Meeting, which Avill probably be 
realized in the course of this month. But this prospect, 
&c, has cost me more than any one, I apprehend, can 
form a full idea of, unless they have travelled the rough 
and thorny path under similar weakness and infirmities. 
It would be well for all, who are in any wise 
concerned in that cause which requires unqualified deci- 
sion, to consider, when they let manifest calls for it slip 
by without action, that a " more convenient season" may 
never occur. I cannot doubt, that if those who saw these 
evils creeping in, had been quite faithful in the onset, they 
never would have reached their present enormity. But I 
do not mean to be at all personal in these remarks ; I 
merely throw out a general hint, in the great freedom 
which I have ever allowed myself to use when addressing 
thee. 

We had not before heard of your afflicting bereavement, in 
which we have truly sympathized with you. Hut, ah . 
how little can be availingly said <>n this subject ! — I have 
sometimes thought, the less the better. It was the remark 

10* 



2 ; 2'2 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

of some one, and I think, of Thomas Clarkson, that the 
language of real grief was always short. And should not 
the language of sympathy and condolence, on occasions 
like the present, be short too? When 1 came to that 
pari of thine, how involuntarily my hearl throbbed for our 
darling little prattler, and I son-lit to make the case my 



own ! 



('. T. and D. K. attended this meeting, two weeks ago 
yesterday. Their communications were very striking, and 
David's remarkably so. lie commenced with the decree 
of the king Nebuchadnezzar, and the published conse- 
quences of the lack of obedience; the faithfulness of the 
three children, their preservation, and the honor which 
resulted therefrom to their Almighty Preserver in the 
fiery trial to which they were subjected; dwelling upon it, 
as a No on the destruction of the image which he saw in 
his dream, by the stone cut out of the mountain ; saying, 
the day of the Lord was coming upon everything which 
was high and lifted up, upon all the high mountains and 
gilded towers ; and that although the image was in part 
made of gold, vet even this, which was accounted the most 
precious of metals, was dashed in pieces and destroyed by 
that little stone, &c. lie then spoke of Daniel, and his 
refusing to obey the king; that he still continued to call 
upon the name of his God in a public manner; hut, he 
Baid, the king Darius had been unwittingly brought to 
Bign this decree, through the influence which the presi- 
dent.-, governors, councillors, &c, had over him; and when 
he found how seriously it affected Daniel whom he loved, 
he Bel his heart upon him to deliver him ; but then came 
in the presidents, the governors, the councillors, and the 
captains, with the argument that the law- of the Modes 
and Persians could not he changed : and so they prevailed 
with the king ami over Daniel. Then he expatiated upon 

his deliverance, and the exaltation of the name and power 

of the Lord thereby, applying it, in a very remarkable 
manner, to some of us: wno knew of states ami circum- 
stances existing in that meeting, of which most probably 
he was wholly ignorant, as to outward information : for he 
assorted altogether with our adversaries, on this [aland, 



1844,] THOM kfi B. QOULD. 

and in Newport put ap al M. II. B/s, It did 3eem more 
lik( ■; rv than anything 1 had heard in b long while, 

and bo did their communications in the afternoon, al Ports- 
month, whither I went. ... It is near one o'clock 
in the morning, after a laborious day in other respe 
1 mt it is really pleasant to converse with thee once more 
in this way. . . . Farewell. 

T. B. Gould. 

To Ethan Foster. 

Newport, 10th month, 28th, 184 I. 
1 cannot divest myself of an impression thai 

thou, my dear friend, hast had to tread in very low plac< 9, 
and to drink as of the hitter waters of Marah ; and the 
language has sweetly arisen, "Let thy Urim and thy 

Thunnnini be with thy Holy One." If it be a season of 
conflict, of dee]) and painful conflict and strife, keep thy 
singly to Jlim who is Loth light and perfection. Do 
not, oli ! do not cast away thy confidence and the shield 
of faith, lest thou find to thy cost (as I have done) that 
without faith it is impossible, either to please God, or to 
stand fast in the day of trial. Being, through the wiles 
of the grand enemy' of all good, divested of the shield of 
faith, the poor way-worn and beclouded traveller is left 
exposed and defenceless to his every attack; then, many 
and grievous are the wounds which he inflicts with his 
barbed arrows and cruel darts, till one is ready to give all 
up as lost, and to listen to his teaching, and feed upon it, 
to the great loss and weakening of the soul ! I do not 
throw out these hints as charges against thee, by any 
means; and I maybe altogether mistaken in supposing 
thou art or hast been tried in this way; but having had 
some reason to know what a hard taskmaster he is, by the 
things which I have suffered at his hands, after he had got 
my attention fixed upon his temptations and snares (in- 
stead of keeping it to that, and upon that, which would 
have discovered them, and preserved from them), I felt 
inclined to encourage thee to press through the crowd of 
difficulties, dangers, and besetments, even to Him iri whom 



224 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1844. 

the living virtue and the blessed healing and preserving 
power is; that bo thou mays! not suffer as I have done 
for the want of it. It is a blessed and happy state, so to 
keep the watch in the Light, as to walk in the shining of 
it with great fulness of spirit, as S. Crisp said. Here the 
enemy cannot hurt or destroy. But I do not speak as 
having attained: far from it; nevertheless this is the 
mark, this is the prize of our high calling. 

Last fourth-day evening L received, in all probability, 
the last visit from my committee, viz.: E. W. and wife, 
d. S., and F. C. They wore extremely arbitrary in their 
behavior, and manifested much bitterness of feeling, with 

the exception <>{' Elizabeth W On sitting down 

together, sonic time was passed in silence, which was at 
length broken by Edward saying they had come to sec 
what I had to offer to the committee. But I told them I 
was waiting to see what they had to offer, and I was wil- 
ling to hear what they might have to say. desiring them 
to speak freely. Their business, they said, was to get an 
acknowledgment from me : that was their business. I 
told them, I must first know my offence. They said, the 
overseers and the monthly meeting would require an ac- 
knowledgment, a written acknowledgment of what I said 
to it and them: that I knew what it was, well enough; 
there was no need of talking about it, or of my seeing the 
complaint — which I had called for, and which they said 
they had forgotten to bring with them. I asked them, if it 
was not necessary to exhibit their charges in writing, why 
it was necessary lor me to make a written acknowledg- 
ment ! They said, because the overseers and the monthly 
meeting would not he satisfied unless it was in writing: 
that they were not unwilling to show me the complaint, 

and never had been ! " Why then did you refuse to do 

so?" Do please mark the answer given by J. S. : "Be- 
cause David Buffum said thee had seen it !" I will not go 

into all that was said, pro and con: but I told them that 

1 was the aggrieved party (going into many particulars 

which I need UOl name to thee, and which they were not 

very willing to hear, continually interrupting me), and 
might with more reason require an acknowledgment from 



1844.] THOMAfi B. 301 u». 226 

them. They Baid thai I had declared my disunity with 
bat 1 had 1 had do unity with the monthly 

meeting. This I denied, in langu; moderate as 1 

could, and to meet the case. They then undertook to 
justify tlif charge, by referring to my objections to parti- 
cular Buhjects before the monthly meeting, &c. ; this, they 

I, was whal they founded the charge of disunity upon. 
But I told them thai I could name many eminent discipli- 
narians who united in the sentiment, although I would 
confine myself to one — T. E. — a Friend who entertained 

y different views from myself with regard to Joseph 
John Gurney, but who told me that, to lay a Friend under 
dealing for having entertained or expressed different views 
from others with regard to the transaction of the affairs 
of the Church, or for having objected to particular things 
(which is the right of all to-do), was unheard of in our 

:iety. They did not like to hear this. 

Edward said that J. J. (i. had gone home; we had 
nothing to do with him, or he with it (which was more 
fully Bpoken to and explained by me) : and lie immedi- 
ately changed ground, and charged me with having labored 
for many vears, bv writing and showing letters, and other- 
wise, to produce a schism in the Society. I told him, I 
was conscientiously clear of the charge; that the object 
and end of my labors had been to prevent a schism, &c. ; 
but inquired if this was a part of the original complaint, 
and asked if he had ever seen anything which I had 
written, and called upon him to produce the letters he 

ke of, that I might know what they were. He said 
they could he produced, in a manner which showed that 
they could not be by him, and that he merely did it to 
frighten me ; but without producing that effect ; and 
then, with rapid motion, he charged me with having 
planned the separation in Fall River, and advised and 
assisted in its accomplishment. But I told him, the first 
knowledge I had of that event was communicated to me in 
detail by one of their own number, Job Sherman, and of 
I denied the charge. But he asked me. if I was 
not very intimate with Israel Buffinton ? to which, re- 
gardless of consequences, I answered in the affirmative, 



226 LIFE AMi LETTERS OF [1844. 

adding, ** lit- is a very particular friend of -mine!" They 
continued repeatedly to pre-- me to an acknowledgment : 
and I continued t< them wherein I had been 8 

grieved, and how zealously they had labored to ensm 
me, and to make me an offender. After a great deal 
more, of this kind and similar, had passed, Edward pro- 
posed to go, and P. C. thought it was no! edifying to 

y : but Job wished Friends to sit a little in silenc 
for which, if thou hadst been present, thou wouldst not 
have suspected me of unwillingness, after what 1 had 
heard. And so, after a little while, E. tried to preach 
to me, which was I think the first time she had said any- 
thing after the first silence : and she now seemed to find 
hard work of it, although I must say she was moderate 
respectful, and even tender, bo far as words go. Another 
Bhort pause succeeded, and they made another motion to 
leave ; when I said, that 1 would be glad if they would 
sir a little longer; which they appeared to do willingly, 
and for some considerable length of time : until I was 
constrained to <»pen my mouth amongst them, in much 
brokenness and {'ear. and in a few words : wherein an 
appeal was made to the Searcher of hearts, who knoweth 
what is in man. and needeth not that any should testify 
unto Him of man; with the expression of a fervent 
desire, that He would be pleased to furnish with wisdom 
to guide amidst the storm, and strength to endure and 
Stand firm, that so His name might not be dishonored. 
The feeling which had spread, before and after this, was 
peculiarly solemn, and it did seem as if E. could not 
wholly resist it. and was constrained by it to respond to 
ami endorse what I had said. But this was more than 
Edward could bear, even from her : and so he kicked 
right out, and said, that he had been looking for an evi- 
dence of the right thing, but he could not feel it. This 
was ;ii parting : and 1 told him, as I had occasionally 
done before in the course of the evening, thai it did re- 
quire a right disposition of mind and a qualification in 
himself, to feel and appreciate the evidence of divine re- 
gard which the Great Master was pleased to afford. 
They urged me again, to send in an acknowledgment 



1844.] SHOMAfl r. GOULD. 227 

the monthly meeting next fifth-day ; when, they 
should iv]H»n according to their feelings. But 
1 told them, I did nol feel like * riting one, ht, 

and bo we parted. The Belecl meeting the ne 

day, without anything of note being done or attempted : 
but l>. r>. was very busy, that afternoon and the ne 
morning, Beeking interviews with my committee, in order, 
as I doubted not, to direct their movements and superin- 
tend their report. Most probably they will finish this part 
of tin* business on fifth-day 

A- respects a division in the quarterly meeting, I was 
intending to express to thee my fears, if it does take place, 
whether it can be carried out satisfactorily in the different 
monthly meetings 

With dear love to thee and thine, and your COUSinS <h>\vu 
t<»\\ n. farewell. 

T. B. G. 

The events at this time transpiring in the Society at 
large, and particularly developing in his section of it, 
pressed heavily on his mind, and at times greatly affected 
his bodily health : though it is evident from his letters, 
that through all he was graciously supported by that Arm 
of divine power and goodness on which he relied ; and that 
his faith was from time to time mercifully reneAved, when 
it was almost ready to fail. His wife, writing to their 
brother and sister in Ohio, in the eleventh month, 1844, 
thus described his condition, and briefly alluded to some 
of the causes of his sore trials. 

" I had wished my Thomas to write to you at 
this time ; but he is so depressed on account of these 
things, that it is as much as I can do to keep him up at 
all. The burdens resting upon him of latter time, have 
been greater than he could bear. His case is still before 
this monthly meeting, and the committee keep coming 
from time to time; and have latterly been so abusive ami 
insulting, that I could scarcely suffer them to continue in 
the house. But he treats them well, and abides in the 
everlasting patience. Truly, if ever 'patience had its 
perfect work,' I think it has in him." 



228 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1814. 

And about the same date, Thomas wrote to his brother? 
in-law, Joshua Maule, as follows: — 

•• I would freely give thee an account of things 
as they transpire, if 1 had time and ability ; but the former 
1 am very much limited for 3 and the Latter extremely defi- 
cient in, in every respect. Those things, referred to by 
my Martha, have a powerful effect upon my health, and 
writing is extremely irksome and xrry injurious to nic. 
Sometimes, when I otherwise might <1<> it. I cannot write 
at all. such is the rush of blood to my head, and the dis- 
ordered state of my nervous system altogether. My liver 
also is much diseased, and although I have been hard at 
work all day, it lias been very painful even to walk about. 
What the end will he, or when, I cannot tell; but I often 
think it will soon come. My great desire is, that the mea- 
sure of Suffering may he idled, and that the prize may he 
gained. But it is a great matter, so to walk as to obtain, 
in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation." . . 



The separation of the innovating party from the true 
Society of Friends in New England, commenced in the 
autumn of 1;S44: a disorderly secession having been ef- 
fected by them (through the interference of the committee 
of the yearly meeting), in Swanzey Monthly Meeting at 
Kail River, a branch of Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting. 
to which Thomas B. Gould belonged. This secession, the 
fruit of the determined efforts to support the cause of 
J. J. Gurney, spread through New England Yearly Meet- 
ing, -weeping large multitudes along in its headlong 
course; and T. 1>. Gould was brought into very dee]) 
concern and exercise of mind, that the remnant which had 
stood faithful to the ancient principles of the Society, and 
were now left much stripped and scattered, might be ena- 
bled to sustain their meetings to the honor of truth. 

From T. P>. (i. to Ethan Foster. 

Newport, 11th mo., 19th, 1844. 

My dear Friend : 

In these times of great and awful shaking, when it not 



1844.] THOMAS B. GOULD, 229 

onl\ as it" everything thai can be shaken mil be 

shaken, but when it really —and those who have 

od hitherto have need of all the strength and enconra 
men! which may be and is doubtless derived, in this day 
as it was formerly anion-" those who feared the Lord, from 
a frequent speaking one unto another in Bis fear, — I 
thought it might not be amiss for one of the least and 
hindmost of the flock, again to call unto thee, and to in- 
quire of thee in the language, but L trust not in the spirit, 
of those who Btood upon the mount of ESsau: "Watch- 
man! what of the night?" It may however serve no 
other purpose, in the present instance, than to let thee 
know that 1 am looking for tidings, while I communicate 

a few 

But if the quarterly meeting had only directed 
the monthly meetings to adjourn in such manner as to 
accommodate their committee, it would have covered and 
ob via ted many difficulties in regard to meeting, which will 
now undoubtedly occur, both in this monthly meeting and 
that of Providence, and, I fear, insurmountable difficulties, 
in our present weak, stripped, and scattered condition. 
But it does appear to me that you may, at Ilopkinton, 
with propriety, after the separation shall have taken place 
in Greenwich Monthly Meeting, change the place of hold- 
ing your meeting for worship there, and thus get rid of 
such heads as you now meet under; always provided that 
it shall appear best and right to do so, when met under 
the canopy of Divine Wisdom. In a general way, it 
strikes me that Friends had better patiently endure until 
after the yearly meeting. If I could believe that our 
women would endure the exposure of meeting in the open 
air at Portsmouth, at this inclement season of the year, I 
should think best that they do so patiently, and good might 
come of it ; but I doubt their being able to do it, or to 
abide a contest for the house each time. Thou mayst 
think this a needless burdening of to-day with the weight 
of futurity ; but I cannot help looking at the difficulties, 
as well as at the advantages of our present condition for 
some there, inasmuch as the day of our deliverance from 
them seems to have dawned, — " The morning cometh, and 

20 



230 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

also the night." I want to know thy judgment of these 
things. It never was at any time, perhaps, more impor- 
tant that we should be guided in wisdom and by wisdom; 
whether we are owned by any other yearly meeting or 
not, which 1 much doubt will take place very soon, if 

ever 

With dear love to thee and thine, with those above 
named and their families, in which my dear M. unites, I 
must conclude, and remain thy sincere friend. 

Tuos. B. Gould. 



To John Wilbur. 

Newport, 19th of 12th month, 1844. 

My dear Friend : 

.... We have felt much solid satisfaction and com- 
fort in the attendance of our religious meetings ; several 
of them have been mercifully owned in a remarkable man- 
ner, though held in silence until last first-day, when lie, 
who openeth and none can shut, set before me an open 
door, and there was much brokenness apparent in several 

who were in attendance, in a particular manner 

It was truly one of those seasons for which we have cause 
to be thankful, and from which we may take courage ; 
notwithstanding the rage of our adversaries, and that in- 
creasingly, in order to stop that which is beyond them ; 
for they, even they, are limited 

The weight of things, as thou must see, rests heavily 
upon a few, and the responsibility is great, which I would 
gladly divide, and more too. I can truly say, I find the 
cross as great as ever, and a deeply settled aversion and 
unwillingness to take it up; still there is something which 
compels, and it feels increasingly constraining and diffu- 
sive ; but lest I go too far, I w T ill not add, even to thee, 
whom I look upon afi a lather indeed: and in the scarcity 
of such, perhaps thou wilt excuse the simplicity and free- 
dom of a little child: and believe me to be, in all sincerity, 
truly thine, with love unchanged. 

T. B. Gould. 






L8 14.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 

To Pjbleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 30th of L2th mo., 1844. 
Mv yi:iiy DBAB FrIBND : 

Few letters have been more n-ulv acceptable or deeply 
interesting, than one which I received from thee of the 
8th ult.: and I fully intended to have written ere this; 
although 1 did purposely omit an immediate reply, on 
account of some little indecision for a time, as to whether 
it might not be proper for me to be in New Bedfordat the 
time of your quarterly meeting, when I hoped to have met 
thee. And knowing that our dear, tried, but faithful 
friend, J. Wilbur, was intending a visit to your island 
[Nantucket] soon after our quarterly meeting, and that 
he could better inform thee and others thereof the events 
of that eventful day, than I could by letter or otherwise, 
there did not seem to be so much necessity for me to speak 
of them. But as thou hast not probably had as good an 
opportunity to hear from the monthly meetings, 1 wished 
to have given thee some account of them; but have been 
so pressed with cares and concernments of different kinds, 
that I could not seem to do it when I wished and as I 
wished. 

Thou mayst however have heard about the visits of the 
committee of the quarterly meeting as sustained by Friends. 
to the different monthly meetings. So, before I speak of 
that, I will say, that the separatists carried complaints 
against my Martha, my father, and cousin John Mitchell, 
into our preparative meeting immediately following the 
quarter, on account of their having, as the?/ said, attended 
a separate quarterly meeting ; and our Friends' endeavors 
to prevent these charges from being sent forward to the 
monthly meeting, having proved unavailing, both men and 
women remained in the house, after the others had gone 
through with their business (having declared their intention 
to do so, upon their minuting these charges), and held the 
preparative meeting in the order of the Society ; but not 
without great opposition and much abuse, from those dis- 
orderly and intolerant people. ... A separation also 
took place in Western and Ilopkinton Preparative Meet- 



232 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1844. 

inga upon similar grounds, before the next monthly meet- 
ing occurred after the quarter, viz. : their persisting in 
entering and forwarding complaints against Othniel Foster 

and his wife (I think), in the one. and Thomas and Phcbe 
Foster in the other, for having attended and sustained the 
quarterly meeting. I know not what yon may think of 
this, but Friends here thought the time for effectual resist- 
ance had then come, and that otherwise they would cer- 
tainly give up the ground which our Friends had taken in 
the quarterly meeting, by suffering them to be laid under 
dealing for sustaining the same. 

The committee of the quarterly meeting first attended 
Providence Monthly Meeting, and were enabled to sustain 
it ; although they encountered great abuse, and met with 
continual interruption from J. M., W. J., and many others; 
who, notwithstanding they adjourned their meeting, in con- 
sequence of the presence of the committee and others who, 
they said, were under dealing, jet they did not leave the 
house, but stayed there during the whole time that Friends 
were engaged in the transaction of their business (as I was 
told by several of the committee), warning them out of the 
house, in < very character and office they could think of, 
and ridiculing and upbraiding them on account of the small- 
ness of their number, the meanness of their appearance, 
and the diffidence, &c, of their clerk. And not only so, 
but the young men would, sometimes, hiss, groan, and 
laugh outright at them, looking up at J. M. for approba- 
tion : who would nod his assent and laugh with them, in 
true Hicksite style. Hicksite, did I say? Nay; this is 
worse than Hicksism; for they never did claim to be ex- 
clusively u the body," or that they were infallible ! But 
how universal ami lusting is the authorized criterion, not- 
withstanding it seems to be very generally overlooked or 
unheeded by those who, ww having eyes, see not," — " By 
their fruits ye shall know them !*' 

Rhode Island Monthly Meeting, which was held at New- 
port, occurred the nexl day after that of Providence, which 
occasioned our friends a hard drive to gel here, hut divers 
of them came. The men's monthly meeting, at this season 
of the year, is held in the committee-room over the little 



18 U.] THOU \s B. GOULD. 238 

part of the house; and at the close of the public meeting, 
when our Friends attempted to ascend the stairs, they found 
a Btrong guard of the ( rurneyites posted thereon, r bo told 
them, without exception, they could not go up; and they 

actually forbade those whom they did no! even pretend to 
have laid under dealing ! But there were some who argued 

the case with them until they wore fain to admit that they 
had not power to keep them out, and, to cover their shame, 
finally told them they might go in; but reply was made 
that they should not he free to do so unless their friends 

too might he admitted. These went far enough to see 
that they had a pensioned naval officer, though of low 
degree, standing by the door at the top of the stairs, hold- 
ing the hasp over it, and J. F. M. at his side, to give him 
the necessary information as to who might go in. . . . 

.... Our men Friends, being thus excluded, sat down 
quietly in the large cold room below, where the men's 
yearly meeting is held; and having proceeded to appoint a 
clerk, and make a minute of the acceptable presence of 
the quarterly meeting's committee, as w r ell as some others 
explanatory of their present situation and circumstances, 
they concluded to adjourn, to meet again at two o'clock 
that afternoon at my father's house; and having given 
the women this information, they adjourned accordingly. 

The women were differently circumstanced ; not being 
compelled to move, they could not be got rid of so easily ; 
so after the clerk had opened the meeting, the quarterly 
meeting's committee laid the minute of their appointment 
on the table ; which, as might have been expected, Avas 
not noticed ; but they proceeded for some time with my 
Martha's case without noticing her presence, although they 
must have known she was there. At length, on the accep- 
tance of the minute of the quarterly meeting being urged 
(I think), as well as objection being made to what they 
were doing in regard to Martha, they began with vehe- 
mence to request her to withdraw ; and the clerk then 
said she did not know of her being present, which it re- 
quired some of J. J. G.'s "simple faith, — mere credence" 
to believe ! But sister Lydia now stood up and said, that 
as the clerk had refused to recognize the minute of the 

20* 



234 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1S4-L 

quarterly meeting, or the presence of its committee, and 
as she had p< I in entering a complaint on the mini 

against an individual, on account of her having united 
with others in sustaining the quarterly meeting, after a 
portion of its members had separated themselves from it, 
Bhe would inquire whether the time had not come for 
Friends to appoint a clerk who would serve the meeting 
in subordination to the quarterly meeting, according to 
discipline and good order (or words to this import), and 
proposed the appointment of Martha S. Gould; which 
being united with, she was accordingly appointed, when 
they proceeded in much the same manner as the men (lid 
(only both meetings were held in the same room at the 

ae time), until they received information from the men 
of their conclusion to adjourn, when they also adjourned, 
to meet again at our house, at the same hour that the men 
met at father's. 

the adjournment, the men took my case into conside- 
ration (as it stood referred to this monthly meeting), and 
after lull investigation and solid consideration, concluded 
t<» dismiss it. and to restore me to my rights ; the women's 
meeting having been consulted and uniting therein; and 
both men and women made minutes, embracing the pecu- 
liar circumstances of the ease, ami the irregular and ill- 
founded manner in which it had heen introduced into that 
meeting, and continued from month to month, by those 
who had now separated themselves from Friends. 

After the women's meeting had concurred herein, and 
the minute had heen completed, they called me into the 
meeting, and I took my seat once more among them : 
having lived to see fulfilled an impression made on my 
mind at the time of their laying me under dealing, and 
which 1 ventured t<> mention to our friends, Setli and Mary 
Davis, as well as some others (I think); that there would 

he Some change in the p08ture <>f things ere they got 

through with me, BO that I should not have to appeal; and 
1 even went SO far as t<> say to them, that I should not he 

disowned by the Society: howbeit those people made a 
minute against me that day. hut it did seem to me not a 
little remarkable that they themselves should have pro- 



18 1 L] 'i B0MA8 B. QOULD. 285 

duced a separation, and that it should, in the ordering or 
rruling of things, have extended as far as the quarterly 
. i re thej seemed to have power i<> do it ; for the 
will was not wanting vein-.- ag However, no tongue 
oould utter, nor the pen of the most ready writer describe, 
whal I have had to pass through, and more especially 
during the latter pari of the time of their dealing with me. 

Friends also took into solid consideration the state and 
condition of Newport Particular Meeting; and apprehend- 
ing the time had fully come for it to be held apart from 
those people who have possession and entire control of our 
meeting-houses, concluded thai it should be held, "until a 
different arrangement can be made," at our house, at the 
usual hours on first and fifth-days; which has been Bince 
done, to the great relief and comfort of Friend.-, as well as 
of some others who meet with us. 

A< the minute of the appointment of the quarterly 
meeting's committee to visit subordinate meetings author- 
ned them to act therein on behalf of the quarter, in 
rendering them such "advice and assistance as circum- 
stances might seem to require and way open for;" and 
Friends having been at this time forcibly excluded from 
their usual meeting-room, and having no reason to expect 
anything better at the next month, when the monthly 
meeting would in course be held at Portsmouth ; and our 
friend William Boyd of that town, although not a member 
of our Society (though his wife is), having witnessed these 
and other their acts of intolerance, and having freely 
offered his house to hold the monthly meeting in, and thus 
opened the way for it ; the quarterly meeting's committee 
were united in judgment that it would be best for us to 
adjourn to meet there at the usual time in the twelfth 
month, and to hold the public meeting there too, at the 
same time as heretofore ; and a minute was accordingly 
and regularly made in both men's and women's meetings 
to this effect. And before I leave this subject, I must be 
allowed to say that I have seldom witnessed more weight 
and solemnity over a meeting, than during the time these 
two propositions were under consideration. 

Greenwich Monthly Meeting did not occur until after 



236 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1844. 

ours, and by this time the G-urneyites had laid nearly or 
quite all the members of the quarterly meeting's committee 
under dealing; nevertheless, they went through with all 
their business iii their presence, without an adjournment, 
and so, according to their own confession, committed 
another violation of the discipline, which they seem to 
consider themselves at liberty to do. whenever they please, 
Upon the minute of the quarterly meeting being laid on 
the table in the men's meeting, and rejected, Friends pro- 
ceeded to appoint a clerk and open the meeting, and then 
waited patiently till the others had got through; when 
they were enabled to transact their business to a good 
degree of satisfaction, and without much, if any, disturb- 
ance from their adversaries, although R. G. and several 
others stayed during the whole time; but for some reason 
they did not think lit to act as their brethren did at Pro- 
vidence I believe the women did not ap- 
point a clerk until the others had left the house. Tims 
thou seest, my dear friend, the monthly meetings in this 

quarter have all been sustained 

Speaking of the sanguine expectations of our friends 
there [in Philadelphia], of those people giving back and 
coming over to us, I am free to acknowledge that I am 
not so much looking for an increase that way, as from the 
highways and hedge-. Several items in thy letter tended 
to revive the hope, and confirm the belief, which has been 
raised in my heart, and with irresistible force again and 
again, and from time to time, during the course of these 
years of deep trial and proving, yea, even at times of the 
deepest trial, and when tilings, as to all outward appear- 
ance, and humanly speaking, were at the worst : that 
there would bean increase of faithful standard-bearers and 
burden-bearers gathered into the true sheepfold of rest, 
and the green pastures of life, even to sit under the free 
and immediate teachings of Christ, the great Shepherd 
and Bishop of souls, every man under his own vine and 
fig-tree, where nothing could hurt them or make them 
afraid: for nothing can hurt or destroy in the Lord's holy 
mountain. And how sweetly and encouragingly has the 

language been sounded in my spiritual ear: " Strangers 



1^1 L] TH0MA8 B. &01 u>. 287 

sliall stand and feed your Hocks, and the Bona of the alien 
I] be your ploughmen and your vinedre But, in 

that day when the Lord of the harvest and of the rine- 
yard > 1 1 a 1 1 accomplish this, His " strange work," and 
bring to pass " His Btrange act,' 1 and incomprehensible to 
the eye of man's wisdom, yet neither Btrange nor impossi- 
ble to and with him who calleth them that arc not as 
those that arc, that no flesh may glory in Sis presence, 
or have the praise of His works, — well will it be if those 
who account themselves, and arc too generally accounted, 
the children of the kingdom, are not cast out ! 

Thy Bincere friend, 

Thomas 1>. GOULD. 

To Joshua and Sarah Maule. 

Newport, 16th of third month, 1645. 

My deab Brother and Sister: 

[One of you] inquired as to the 

progress of the separation. It has not yet extended be- 
yond the limits of Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, and 
probably will not until after the yearly meeting. This 
quarter, since the dissolution of South Kingstown Monthly 
Meeting, is composed of four monthly meetings, viz. : 
Rhode Island. Greenwich, Swanzey, and Providence. In 
Rhode Island Monthly Meeting only twenty adults remain 
with Friends decidedly, although several others decline 
attending either meeting, professing to be waiting for the 
action or decision of other yearly meetings. Only one 
member of old Greenwich Monthly Meeting remains with 
Friends ; but there are at least fifty adults (including 
some very aged and infirm Friends) who were formerly 
members of South Kingstown Monthly Meeting : quite as 
many (and I believe more) in Swanzey Monthly Meeting, 
to which may be added several undecided yet : and in 
Providence Monthly Meeting only thirteen. Here, again, 
are several undecided persons, and from among these, 
now and then, one comes straggling over to us : but I 
have not yet heard of one who stood with us at the time 
of the division, that has since gone over to them. But 



LIFE AX I) LETTERS OF [184o. 

there were, I think, Beventy persons who signed the ap- 
peal against the dissolution of South Kingstown Monthly 
Meeting, some of whom did eventually go with the Gur- 
neyites. In all these enumerations, both sexee are in- 
cluded. The four monthly meetings have all been sus- 
tained ; Borne of the preparative meetings have not, their 
members, as well as of divers particular meetings, having 
all gone off in the separation. When the separation shall 
have taken place in the yearly meeting, &c, J think in all 
probability there av i 1 1 be as many left with Friends, in 
Salem and Sandwich Quarterly Meetings each, as in this ; 
perhaps half the number in Dover Quarter; and it is feared 
that the remaining four quarters will go off. Still, divers 
have stayed with us whom ^ve did not expect, and some 
who may not do us much good : in view of which, I some- 
times think of the " mixed multitude," who went up with 
the children of Israel out of Egypt, though we cannot so 
well speak of a multitude. . . . The Gurneyites in 
Swanzey Monthly Meeting have come to actual force, to 
keep Friends out of their public meeting, when a meeting 
for business followed it, in divers instances: and in others, 
to seizing some by the collar, and otherwise, and dragging 
them out so : lest, these being seated in the house, tl 
Bhould have to adjourn ! Are not these legitimate fruits 
of a spurious ministry and unsound principles ? 

Farewell. 

T. B. Gould. 



To Setii and Mary Davis. 

Newport, 25ih of third month, 1845, 
My very dear Frirnds, Setii and Mary Davis : 
Although a long time lias elapsed since I have written, 

vet I have no! been unmindful of you ; but on the con- 
trary you have been much and often in my affectionate 
remembrance, however opportunity has not presented for 
saying so in this way. As your quarterly meeting has 
approached, and under an apprehension that it may or 

will ho a season of renewed or increased trial to you and 
other dear friends within its limits, 1 have felt inclined to 



L845, j MtOM 18 ]:. OOULD. 

address you, and it' it may be, in the language of encour- 
ment to endure and Btand faithfully and firmly in the 
of the truth, in whatever way it may require your 
Bupport and defence. Ami oh, my beloved elders therein, 
what nice attention it doea require, what dedication of our- 
selves, and devotion of our all, if we do yield obedience in 
these trying times! I have sometimes feared that, on the 
part of some, there has been a withholding of thai which 
would have been offered it" there was less to be feared on 
account of the offering. So that through fear of suffer- 
ing, or of the consequences, a sufficient degree of light 
and strength of motion to act in, has been lost, while 
waiting for clearness. But it does appear that there 
is no time to be lost, and that unless what little there 
is left be faithfully improved, not only particular states, 
but the Church will sutler great, and perhaps irreparable 

loss 

But, friends, have we not encompassed a dark mountain 
in the wilderness long enough, and is it not time, high 
time, to journey forward ? Is it not time for Zion to arise 
and shake herself, seeing the bands with which she has long 
been bound down are being loosed by Him who only can 
open the gates of brass, and burst asunder the bars of 
iron ': Hath he not said to some, and is He not saying to 
other prisoners of hope, — Go forth! — and renewing his 
commandments, as of old to those who sat in darkness, to 
show themselves in the Light ? Yea, I am persuaded that 
it is so — that what may be compared to the year of 
Jubilee — of release — has nearly come, wherein all who 
will, may go out free. But verily those who will not, 
must remain servants forever ! And I greatly fear there 
are some (though among this number you will not suppose 
I reckon you), who will prefer servitude, with the enjoy- 
ment of the leeks and onions of Egypt, to deliverance 
therefrom, with the inconvenience and exposure of dwell- 
ing in tents, and the perils of continual warfare, until the 
old inhabitants of the land shall have been overcome and 
cast out. But the former need not expect any greater 
honor among the Egyptians, such of them at least as have 
had some sense of their bondage and the darkness which 



240 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [184.",. 

covers that land, — they need not expect any greater honor 
than being made hewers of wood, and drawers of water; — 
while the latter, in the Lord's due and appointed time, 
when the necessary portion of Buffering is filled up, and 
the warfare is accomplished, will not only gain | sion 

of the gates of their enemies ; — but of the Land of Pro- 
mise itself! 

In looking at the state of some, who have had, in a good 
degree, a right Bense of the state of things in this yearly 
meeting, and who, from their age, station, and experien 
may have been fitly called masters in Israel, I have been 
often and forcibly reminded of good old Jacob's descrip- 
tion of his Bon [ssachar: " [ssachar is a strong ass, crouch- 
ing down between two burdens; and he saw that rest was 
good, and the land that it was pleasant, and lie bowed his 
shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.'' 
And heavy, very heavy, I believe such will find their bur- 
dens to be, in the great day of account ! — while those who 
choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, 
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, will not 
only n-ceivr a double portion of the " recompense of the 
reward" while here, but reap the fruition of joy unspeak- 
able and full of glory in the presence of the Father — " the 
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob" — in the world 
to come. May lie preserve US all in faithfulness to Him- 
self, whatever portion of suffering and reproaches may be 
involved therein ! 

Truly the difficulties which we in this quarterly meeting 
have met and arc likely to meet with, in sustaining our 
meetings, are neither few nor small; but as these have 
abounded, the consolations of the Gospel of peace and 
reconciliation have also abounded, as some of us can Bay 
from, 1 trust, a good degree of living experience, and I 

think we might add, to His praise! And my fervent, 
heartfelt desire is, that whatever may transpire, the crea- 
ture, and all that appertain.- thereunto, under whatever re- 
finements it may exist, or however deceitfully the " treach- 

erous dealer" may operate, may be continually reduced, 
and under every dispensation, whether of Buffering hunger, 



18 15. | THOMAS i LD. 2 II 

tbounding in the good thi ' the K ing : ' m, 

laid in the dual f 

1 sup] have Been J. J. I rurn 

William V. Mott, which his pdmirers are now indi 

culating, in order to produce the impression thai he 
disposed to make satisfaction for his departures; but it 

. thai any who are a1 all aware of the ex- 
tent of his defection in principle, should be so credulous 
;ke this letter for his and their justification : inasmuch 
as he therein again fully justifies and defends hiswritin 
and declines anj emnation, by Baying expressly that 

he has peace in the retrospect of his labors as an author, 
without making any exception. He places all his boasted 
n of his writings, upon the ground of condescen- 
i, and not at all upon the defective character of the 
writings themselves. Moreover, his submission, if Buch 

it may be railed, was, by his own account, to a few friends 

r London — to a few of his own persona] friends, — and 

these, by other and independent accounts, were of his own 
on, such as he knew would handle them very ten- 
derly and carefully indeed, because they were in full unity 
with the innovations and modernizations of doctrine which 
they contain. And thus, as he doubtless foresaw, these 
new views would receive an additional sanction, without 
incurring the least danger of their being willing to spare 
" the passages which have given all sound Friends 
Quch concern. It is plain enough to be -eon at a glance. 

by all men who have read this celebrated letter, that the 

■ 

only error which he admits, or even supposes, or for which 
he ex; gret or Borrow, is, that he printed the 

"Brief Remarks' 1 without the sanction of the morning 
meeting. Xo allusion is made to any erroneous vi< 
in it, although he must know that when the views which 
it inculcates are once adopted, the whole foundation of 
Quakerism is removed as it respects those who imbibe his 
views therein expressed: and doubtless he thinks it a pity 
that they got into circulation so soon, as they were so 
glaringly inconsistent as to .-hock the minds of Friends, 

both in England and America 

But if he did regret the circulation of this book on 

21 



*242 Lin; and letters of [184.",. 

mit of the principles it contains, would lie not 
bo, — would lie not c<»ni'' honestly forward and retract and 
condemn those principles, and would lie not be forward to 
do this as publicly and as widely. as the books containing 
them have been circulated, without regard to the mode in 

which they obtained that circulation ? I !an anv man BUp- 
that such an author would he satisfied to do it by a 
private letter to an obscure individual *: But lie has been 
content to let these principles pass without any condemna- 
tion at all — he only thinks it was unwise to print it with- 
out the sanction of the morning meeting 

I must hid you affectionately farewell, and remain very 
sincerely your friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To Peleo Mitchell. 

Newport, 25th of 3d mo., 1845* 
Mv dear Friend : 

. . . I fully intended writing to thee earlier, hut 
have been much pressed for time, in consequence of the 
very severe illness of both my beloved parents at the time 
of our quarterly meeting in the second month (which 
prevented any of us from attending that meeting); and 
since they have partially recovered, my hands have been 
fully employed with other matters of importance. My 
dear wile and self attended the adjournment, which, as 
well as the other, was a very satisfactory good meeting, 
wherein Friends were favored to feel, in a good, and of 
latter times an uncommon degree, the preciousness and 
blessedness of brethren dwelling together in unity, and 
harmoniously laboring for Truth's honor, instead of the 
honor of man and the establishment of a confederacy 
for the subversion of truth and the right way of the 
Lord. 

[In reference t<> the prospect of a separation in 
the yearly meeting, and of the Grurneyites' probable at- 
tempt to prevent Sandwich Quarterly Meeting from being 

held on Nantucket, he Bays:] If they should make this 
attempt, and you should passively suhiuit to it without 



18 I THOMAS i u>. 2 18 

>n, rely upon it. oor adversaries will take advanta 
it. and throw it in your teeth afterwardi they have 
failed to do idly In other notwithstandi 
their own unparalleled exertion- to prevent Friends from 
ine expression to their feelings, and their own conscious- 
js that it has been owing to a tender fear of being drawn 
out into an activity beyond the limitations of truth. But, 
my dear friend, 1 am, upon very serious consideration, 
abundantly convinced that our arch-adversary, the trans- 
forming angel, lias been too successful in thus preventing 
the prompt and faithful exercise of our ( christian testimony 
inst wrong things and unsanctified manoeuvring. As 
you are, on Nantucket, perhaps the most numerous and 
impacted body of experienced and solid Friends 
that we ean hope for, within the limits of this yearly 
meeting, to strengthen our feeble and remotely stationed 
bands and ranks in resisting the hosts displayed and 
arrayed against US, it does appear to mo that a propor- 
tionally greater degree of responsibility rests upon you, 
and others of similar character within the limits of Sand- 
wich quarter 

And truly, as Stephen Crisp said, the weight of things 
comes daily more and more upon some, with an undoubted 
evidence as to the source from whence it springs. That 
this may he our individual experience, that we may be in- 
asingly prepared and qualified, not only to feel for the 
afflictions of Joseph, hut to labor for his deliverance out 
of bondage, that bo Israel may serve the Lord in the line 
of divine appointment, and with the offerings of His own 
preparing, in the place which He shall choose, is what I 
greatly desire; and I believe the Lord "will hasten it in 
His time," whether few or more shall be found willing to 
accept of the way which He hath provided for their de- 
liverance. For surely, He hath opened and is opening, 
a- dear Ezra Comfort said, a way for our deliverance, 
where we could see no way, and at a time when we looked 

not for it 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



1244 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1845. 



CHAPTBB V. 



The separation which had been produced by tlio advo- 
cates and adherents of J. J. Grurney (members of the 
meeting for sufferings, and of the standing committee of 
the yearly meeting), in the Monthly Meeting of Swanzey, 
held at Fall River, and which, as we have seen, extended, 
in the eleventh month, 1844, to the Quarterly Meeting of 
Rhode Island, to which Swanzey Monthly Meeting be- 
longed, was, in the course of events, the procuring cause 
<>f a similar division in the ensuing Yearly Meeting of New 
England in the summer of 1845. From the large portion 
of labor and exercise which consequently devolved on T. 
B. Gould, it is needful to record here the principal eireum- 
stances of that important crisis. This is the more nee 
sary, as it ha- been followed by like separations from the 
true Society of friends, on the part of the same modern- 
izing class, in various portions of the Society, where their 
influence and power have been sufficiently great to bring 
about their own measures, and a remnant of faithful Friends 
lias been endued with strength to stand firm to their an- 
cient faith and discipline. In such eases, a due regard 
for the safety of the ark of the testimony, for the very 
existence of the Society on its original ground, and for 
the fulfilment of their own individual duty as members of 

it. has constrained the honest-hearted to unite together in 
withstanding the further inroads of error in principle and 
practice, and in refusing to he identified with the modified 
system, and with the schismatic course by which it \ 
sustained. They have herein acted according to the prin- 
ciples clearly advocated by Robert Barclay, in unison with 

the Apostle Paid, that after due and ineffectual endea\ < 



I s 15. ] Tin \o\ u>. 

avinee and reclaim, they who Btand faithful to the 
true dootrim aally accepted, uol only have the power, 

bul are cinder a solemn obligation, to "withdraw" from 
those wjio are introducing into the Church Buch innova- 
tions and disorderly practices ta would be fundamentally 
inc nl with its original character, and involve them 

in complicity with a departure from the true faith of the 
body. 

£fter the separation in Rhode Island Quarterly Meet- 
ing, the leaders of the innovating party foresaw the con- 
flict thai would follow in the yearly meeting, and took 

»mpl measures to provide for their own numerical buc- 

■ the crisis. They issued from the meeting for ■uf- 

ferings an illusory representation of what had already 
iurred; assuming to themselves a high tone of religious 
authority, by which the minds of many were entangled, 
before they had an opportunity of knowing the truth or 
falla.-y of statements so boldly and authoritatively as- 
ted; and in several of the quarterly meetings, when 
representatives were to be appointed to the ensuing yearly 
meeting, they attempted, too successfully, to control the 
appointments, so as to secure a very large preponderance 
of their own adherents in the representative body. So 
that, when the yearly meeting assembled, the representa- 
tives, with few exceptions, were found to be a "packed" 
body, composed mainly of those who had been active in 
the persecution of sound Friends for their testimony against 
innovation, and of those who, they knew, from previous 
circumstances, would act according to their own bidding. 
A\ hen the yearly meeting assembled, in the sixth month, 
U was expected, two sets of representatives appeared from 
Rhode Island, one from each of the meetings claiming to 
be the true Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting. If strict 
impartiality had been exercised between the two claimants, 
in ignorance of their respective merits, neither set of re- 
aentatives would have been minuted as such, until the 
yearly meeting had concluded its judgment as to which 
represented the true body. But the clerk, who was one 
of the advocates of J. J. Gurney, read, anion- those from 
the other quarters, the report of the Gurney meeting and 



246 LOT AM) LETTERS OF [1845. 

minuted the name- of its representatives at once, as to ■' 
the representatives of that quarter, and afterwards the 
others merely as purporting to be such ; thus forestalling 
the judgment of the meeting, and placing the latter in a 
disadvantageous position. It was now proposed that the 
question should be referred to the decision of all the repre- 
sentatives, except those <»f both parties from Rhode Island. 
This would have Insured a result favorable to the Grurney 
party, and with a knowledge <>f the certainty of such a 
result, they pressed it. Sound Friends could not submit 
to its reference to a body so made up beforehand. They 
represented to the meeting, that several of the representa- 
tives were members of the yearly meeting's standing com- 
mittee, already implicated in this very question, and active 
participants in the measures which had produced it: that 
unfair and prosoriptive measures had, in some of the quar- 
ters, been resorted to iii the appointments; that the im- 
partial character of the body of representatives was thus 
greatly vitiated, and a fair adjudication rendered entirely 
improbable, if not impossible, inasmuch as the suffer:: 
of faithful Friends, in their endeavors to stand for the 
cause of truth, and the sad difficulties in which the yearly 
meeting was now involved, were mainly attributable to the 
proceedings of those very men who, in the body of repre- 
sentatives, would have the entire control of the decision. 
They therefore urged that the yearly meeting itself should 
deliberate on the matter, that all the members present 
might have an opportunity of hearing and judging on the 
merits of the case. There was considerable expression in 
favor of this proposal, ))Y Friends from different quarterly 
meetings; hut many continued to urge the reference to 
the representatives. The sound portion from Rhode Island 
informed the meeting that they could not consent to such 
a reference under the circumstances. Hut the clerk made 
a minute, giving it that direction. He then made a truly 
extraordinary proposition to the meeting, — no less than 

the suspension (for the accomplishment of the purpose then 
in view) of'an organic rule of their own printed discipline, — 

a proceeding probably never heard of before in the Society 

of Friends, lie proposed to suspend that rule of the dis- 



184 i SOMAS r. GOULD. 2 IT 

line of * x 'land Yearly Meeting fin the langu 

of the world, th< , which requires the 

representatives to meel at the conclusion of the Bitting on 

tond-day morning, and agree upon a clerk for the year, 
and report the same to the adjournment. This was a very 
important feature in the discipline of New ESngland Yearly 
Meeting, founded upon the long-established sentiment 
among Friends, of the necessity 01 a judicious selection in 
the nomination to a Bervice ot Buch weight and re^onsi- 
bility. Although this proposal was objected to on the | 

the Bound representatives from Rhode [sland, and the 
yearly meeting was reminded that its adoption would he a 
departure from the injunction of the discipline, yet a 
minute was made in accordance with the clerk's sugges- 
tion, — thereby displaying a Borrowful example to its mem- 
bers, of a body professing to be a yearly meeting of Friends, 
breaking one of its own laws to suit a temporary, necdf 

1 factious purpose. The meeting, after this, adjourned 
t<> four o'clock in the afternoon. Before the adjournment 

k place, in view of the condition into which the yearly 
meeting was now brought, Friends desirous of maintaining 
the ancient principles and practices of the Society, and 
anxious that the yearly meeting should be sustained on its 
original foundation, were invited to take a solid opportu- 
nity of conferring together, to endeavor unitedly to sec, 
under the guidance of Divine Wisdom, what step might 
appear right for them to take in this very peculiar and 
trying state of things. Many Friends accordingly remained 
in the house after the conclusion of the sitting; but find- 
ing it impracticable to confer together there without inter- 
ruption, they agreed upon another place of meeting, and 
then quietly withdrew. Arrived at this stage in their 
proceedings, it may be best to quote their own statement 
of the subsequent transactions: 

" Friends were introduced into deep exercise and travail 
of spirit, wherein living desires were raised in the hearts 
of many, for best help and direction : and when the)* again 
mbled, free from interruption, under an awful sense 
of the importance of moving only in the line of Divine 
appointment, they were united in judgment that it would 



248 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18 

not be right to aj^ear with their case, before the repre- 
Bentative3 then Bitting in our meeting-house; who w< 
immediately informed of this conclusion. It wa the 

united Bense and judgment tends, thai in order to 

tain the yearly meeting in conformity with its long- 
established Discipline, and upon iginal ground, with 
the ancient doctrines and testimonies of ti iety unim- 
paired, it was indispensable that the representatives should 

. and agree upon and propose n Clerk to the next 
sittin ( L r . as by discipline and former usage is required. 

ihe yearly meeting having again convened in the af- 
ternoon, soon after the opening minute was read. Prince 
Gardner [of Nantucket], on behalf of the representatives 
who met on Clerks (which included all those from Rhode 
[sland [sound Friends] and some from Sandwich Quarterly 
Meeting), reported that they were united in proposing the 
names of Thomas B. Gould for Clerk, and Charles Perry 
for Assistant Clerk, for the ensuing year. This proposal 
was united with by many, but a large number opposed it, 
and the former Clerks continued to sit at the table. 
Whereupon, those agreed to and proposed by the repre- 
sentatives, were requested to take their seats at a table in 
a part of the house where most of the Friends who had 

united in their appointment were sitting. [This was a 
part of the meeting-house at one side of the portion occu- 
pied by the hulk of the assembly, and divided from it by 
a sliding partition, bul which was at this time left open 
above the level of the benches.] After making a minute 
of tin- appointmenl of Clerks, &c., the names of the repre- 
sentatives from Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting of Friends 

were called, and all responded thereto. The Clerk then 
proceeded to read the report from that meeting, in which 
lie was greatly interrupted by many in different parts of 
the house. Abraham Shearman, Jr. (the former Clerk), 
left hi* ami passing along the ministers' gallery to- 

wards that part oi it where the Clerk wa> standing, called 
upon him to desist : hut after a short pause, the reading 
was calmly proceeded in. until finished. After appointing 
a committee to prepare and produce to a future sitting, a 

more extended minute, to hi- entered on our record.-, cm- 



18 15.] THOM kfi B, GOULD, 

y trying circumstances in which h 
pla 1th the 1 and cause tb it did not ap] 

pr( on1 of the greal interruptii •) Friends m< I 

introduce any further business at tha ting, 
yearly meeting concluded to adjourn, to inert on 
third-day morning at the tenth hour, of which the women's 
meet!! informed, and adjourned accordingly. f i 

fact being reported to the separate [Gurney] meeting by 
their messengers, they adjourned, to meet at the same 
place, nt the ninth hour. 

** Friends assembled on Ihird-day morning, 
and found our meeting-house already occupied by the sepa- 
rate meeting, — whereupon I arly meeting gathered 
opened in the yard, the men's meeting near one 
1 of the house, and the women's at the other. Each 
me appointed a committee to apply to these in the 
house for the vacation of the Clerks 1 tables for the use of 
the yearly meeting and its ( !lerks, and also for the transfer 
of the books and papers thereof; which application having 
n made ami unconditionally refused, ^ve were deprived 
of the reports from all our quarterly meetings, except 
Rhode Island. One representative from Salem and three 
from Sandwich Quarterly Meetings, uniting with us, were 
recognized as such by the meeting ; which., with those from 
Rhode Island, made thirteen representatives to the men's 
meeting who have remained with Friends. 

"After being thus obliged to hold our meeting, both of 
men and women Friends, standing in the open air for 
nearly two hours, it was concluded to adjourn the yearly 
meeting to the Baptist meeting-house in Clarke Sjrect, 
which was kindly opened for that purpose. Friends hav- 
ing removed from our meeting-house yard in a body, con- 
vened again immediately at the place proposed; and sitting 
for a time together, our hearts were tendered and united 
under the cementing influence of the Great Head of the 
Church, who. as we iced bowid reverently to acknowledge, 
has been pleased in His unmerited mercy, and in a re- 
markable manner, to own U8 in the way which we go, to 
manifest Himself among us by His Spirit, to uphold and 
preserve US by His power, amid the varied conflicts which 



250 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1845, 

we have had to pass through, for His great name's sake, 
Under feelings of d >rrow and concern for those who 

have been drawn aside from the truth, and of thankfulm 
to the Lord our Pr< olemnity and the 

preciousm the covering which, in adorable men 

was spread overus, thai it was concluded to adjourn with- 
out introducing any business at thai time. 

" The subsequent sittings of the yearly meeting have 
been regularly held al the same place ; and although greatly 
reduced in numbers, Friends have been mercifully favored 
during these several sittings, to experience renewed and 
abundant evidence, that Jle who Ieadeth the blind by a 
way which they know not, and in paths which they have 
not -con. is not unmindful of His people, — and that, while, 
in the counsels of His own will, He hath permitted them to 
be thus sifted and very closely tried, yet that lie will, in 
His own good time, gather the outcasts of Israel and the 
dispersed of Judah, raising up judges as at the first, and 
counsellors as at the beginning, who shall not en- in 
vision or stumble in judgment, hut who shall he enabled, 
by His holy help, to lay judgment to the line, and right- 
eousness to the plummet : for Zion was to he redeemed 
through judgment, and her converts with righteousnei 
and we are persuaded that lie who reigneth King in the 
midst of Zion* will verify His ancient promise, * I will restore 
health unto thee, and L will heal thee of thy wounds, saith 
the Lord, because they called thee an outcast, saying, This 
is Zion whom no man seeketh after.' ' Behold, I will 
bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy 
on his dwelling-places; and the city shall he builded upon 
her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner 
thereof. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving, ami 
the voice of them that make merry : and I will multiply 
them, and they shall not be few: 1 will also glorify them, 
and they shall not be small. Their children also shall 

hi- as aforetime, and their rongregation shall be esta- 
blished b . and 1 will punish all that oppr* 
tern. 

" Furthermore, we are engaged to testify 

and declare, that while we have the fullest unity with the 



THOMAS i . i.!>. 

anc blished principles, doctrines, testimonies, and 

jcipline ciety of Friends, as held and 

supported from the beginning, and as published authori- 
tative] he world in Robert Barclay's "Apology for 
the true Christian Divinity," his " Catechism and Con- 
don of Faith," and his treatise on "Church Govern- 
ment;" also by George Fox, William Penn, [saac Pen- 
tngton, George Whitehead, and all those brighi Bona of 
the morning in unity with them ; — yel we have no unity 
:ii]> with those adverse principles and doctrines 
of Joseph John Gurney, as exhibited in the following 
extracts from his published works, and illustrated by the 
disorderly practices and proceedin his adheres 
those principles and doctrines being, as the extracts from 
the writings of some of our early Friends, which we have 
contrasted therewith, will show, plainly inconsistent with 
the doctrines of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
( Ihrist and His Apostles, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures 
of truth, which are of divine authority, being given by in- 
spiration of God, and written by holy men of old, as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

*• We therefore entreat and exhort our dear- friends, 
Tywhere, to be on their guard against receiving or 
imbibing any principles or doctrines that are not in 
accordance with those- held and promulgated by the early 
approved writers and ministers of our Society, which we 
have herein referred to ; and who were made in their day 
eminent instruments in the Divine Hand, of reviving pri- 
mitive Christianity, exalting the standard of truth, and of 
gathering a distinct and peculiar people unto Him who 
was the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus 
Christ himself — the Rock of Ages — being the chief corner- 
stone." 

" In conclusion, Ave feel concerned affec- 
tionately and earnestly to invite all those who make a 
profession of the truth under our name, in this time of 
great commotion, to centre more and more to the unflat- 
tering witness, and gift of divine light and grace within 
themselves, which never will deceive those that faithfully 
follow its leadings. Thus shall we know more and more 



252 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18 i~>. 

of :ni establishment on thai Bock on which the tree 
Church of Chrh rilded, and against which the 

hell shall never bi ed to prevail. May none of 

our dear friends be discouraged in view of the great suf- 
ferings which a faithful adherence to the truth may bring 
upon them : but remembering the glorious reward promised 

our Holy Redeemer to those who are willing joyfully 
to Buffer for His Bake, and to sacrifice near and dear 
things for His cause, may we all look to Him who re- 
mains to be the Helper of His people, with earnest desii 
for preservation, 

•• And as, in the integrity of our hearts, this is the <•. 
although in His inscrutable wisdom, He may permit us to 
be Boreiy tried, even to an hair's breadth, both for our 
furtherance in the ever-blessed truth, and the advance- 
ment of His own glorious cause in the earth, yet as we 
abide in the everlasting patience, we shall know the 
angel of His presence to go with us, and be permitted to 
enjoy the reward of that inward peace and satisfaction, 
which the more dweller in the outward court may talk of, 
but never can possess/ 1 

An undue confidence in certain leaders of the people, 
and desire to stand well with the rulers, had taken p 
ssion of many minds, even among those who at first had 

:i more or less clearly the discordance between our 
ancient principles and those of the modern school. The 
arch enemy of all truth, who is ever ready to take advan- 
I* our weakness, easily persuaded these, that it was 
very comfortable to take the words and deeds of those in 
whom they had placed their confidence, as unquestionably 
correct and safe for them to follow, instead of Bubmittii 
to the arduous engagement of entering individually into 
close religious travail and exercise of spirit, by which they 
might have been qualified to discern between the voice of 
the stranger, and the still small voice of Him who would 
have led them Bafely by the footsteps of the flock, in the 
green pastures of life. Thus lending a willing ear to the 
''charmer," they became more and more bewildered, till 
they stumbled in judgment, and were carried away in mul- 
titudes by the delusive representations now set afloal : 



,x| THOBI 18 I i.i>. 

that in some quarters very fev round prepared to 

*"' 'ng ,1 "' true standard, in opposition to the 

» e , rful mpaences brought I upon them from within 

and from \\ ithout. 

The yearly meeting, in view of the distracted condition 

into which the Society i„ NVw England was now thrown 
by the disorderly and factious proceedings of the Gun 

party, the fallacious representations spread abroad by them 

P*ro*«>n whirl, had taken place, and the almost 

erwhelming prevalency of defection in influential quar- 

s, believed that great difficulties would attend the honest 

endeavors ot Friends to sustain their meetings in accord- 
•-• with the ancient principles and practices of the S* 
'}'■ * committee was therefore appointed, to v'mi the 

quarterly monthly, and other meetings, as way might open 
'f. and extend aid, as enabled, in the support of the 
timonies of tnuh as always professed by as T B 
dd being one of this committee, an^interesting view 

of some features of the visits may be gathered from several 

of the following letters. 

Ur received, about this time, an encouraging letter 

among others, iron, a Friend in the ministry, then residing 

in JNew Jersey. ° 

Fkom AVilliam Scattergood to T. B. G. 

- _, MiLltillb, 7th mo. 21st, 1845. 

Dear Friend, T. IS. Gould: 

My thoughts have been so often turned towards thee 
with some others in your parts, during the past few weeks.* 
that I seem to see no other way than to endeavor to impart 
somewhat of the sympathy that attends ,„v mind towards 
thee m tins way It is not in the sense of abounding, 
nor of having much to communicate ; hut as a trying period 
has overtaken some of you, who are engaged to stand for 
the law and the testimony, it cannot hut tend to affect all 
such as love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, with feelings of 
lively and tender inter, "When one member suffers 

all the members suffer with it," is the language of the ex- 
perienced apostle, and is witnessed by such as are alive in 

no 



.)- 



4 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [184."). 



the L<>rd down to this day; and as there is a patient 
abiding with the Beed which is under Buffering, ther< 
something known of being one another's helpers as well as 
joy in the Lord. 

We are happily thus far placid in a situation in which 
we arc not immediately involved in the confusion caused 
by unruly and unsettled spirits, who, having losi ground 
in themselves, arc Beeking to keep up an outward prof< 
sion, and more than that, are Beeking pre-eminence over 
others and in the church. Hut I apprehend we shall not 
long witness immunity from the desolating effects of this 
unhappy defection from the cross of Christ, which is the 
groundwork of all schism and contention in the church. 

Well, 1 think 1 can Bay, in looking at the wave that is 
rolling towards us, and which is no doubt to overwhelm 
many in its progress, may our dependence and foundation 
be upon the everlasting Bock which cannot be moved, and 
against which the winds and waves yrill beat in vain. J low- 
important, in those who are engaged to stand against the 
innovations of the present day, that they be found with 
their loins girded about and their lights burning : that they 
should witness a fresh and fervent engagement, day by 
day, to have on the whole armor of light, that so they 
may stand against the wiles of the devil ! I have felt, in 
looking at the prospect before us, of having again to enter 
as it were into warfare with unruly spirits, as though it 
was an awful one : and having been a participator in a degree 
in a former separation, the thought of this lias affected 
me, with more than ordinary desires that my own depen- 
dence and Btrength might be alone in Him who is mighty 
to save. It is only as we are thus brought in true 
humility to depend upon Him, that we can hope for safety 
as regards ourselves, or victory, in a church capacity, over 
the enemies of the cross of ( Ihrist. May our abiding then, 
my dear friend, be here, and may we be more concerned 
that truth and righteousness may prevail, than any other 
thing. Truth is truth, though all men forsake it: and as 

we hold fast to it, lie who is said to be the Way, the 

Truth, and the Life, will maintain his own cause, and we 

shall witness true exaltation in His way and time, which 



18 \->. ] THOM L6 B. GOULD. 

i> Doi to be hastened or promoted by any contrivance or 
tlic natural mind or will, < w ! it is good to 
dwell low with Him, in his holy fear ! 

have had accounts of your late yearly me. and 

while we mourn with you over the defection of bo mai 

1 look forward with hope, that those who remain at- 
tached to our religious principles and testimonies may 
be bo afresh engaged to know their abiding to be in 
the Vine, that heavenly and blessed fruil may be more 
eminently manifest among as than for the time that is 
past, If this isnot the case, if love, joy, peace, long-suf- 
fering, meekness, goodness, faith, are not more eminently to 
be Been among as, whal profit Bhall this separation be to 
us *: ( >ur unity and fellowship is not bo much in the belief of 
opinions and notions about religion, as in that holy and 
blessed Spirit whereinto all the living members of Christ's 
spiritual body arc truly baptized, whereby they arc made 
one body, oven as we arc called in one hope of our calling. 
May this be more and more our experience as a religious 
body, and may this sifting, shaking season, tend to drive 
us home to the impregnable fortress, where the Lord's 
presence dwells ! My heart is enlarged in feelings of 
tender solicitude for those of my own age and younger, 
that we may be preserved in the hollow of the Lord's holy 
hand, and that, in our engagements in the church, we may 
be preserved from doing anything to hinder or mar the 
Lord's work. As we are thus preserved patient and 
watchful before Him, he will at seasons clothe with his 
divine power, so that one shall chase a thousand, and two 
put ten thousand to flight. 

I could enlarge much upon this weighty and solemn 
lasion ; but as I have no desire to multiply words, have 
only to commend thee, with other of our dear friends in 
your parts, to the keeping and guidance of the Shepherd 
of Israel. May lie be your bow and battle-axe, your 
shield and exceeding great reward. If this is the ca 
though Israel be not gathered, though there may be little 
left of us as a religious society, yet will you be precious 
in the eyes of the Lord, and He will afford the sweet con- 
solation, of which He is the only Source and Fountain. 



256 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1845. 

My love to thy wife, in which my Elizabeth joins ; also 
to Mich as 1 may have some acquaintance with in your 
quarterly meeting, &c. : and with the salutation of near 
affection, 1 remain thy Friend and brother, 

William Scattergood. 



From T. B. G. to Joshua Maulb. 

North Berwick, Maim:, 26th of 8th mo., 1845, 

Mv yeky dbab Brother, Joshua Maulb: 

Such has been the press of business growing 
OUt of our peculiar situation in New England, that I have 
been able to pay scarcely any attention to my own affairs, 
since J parted with thy Sarah. I am now here, with 
others of our yearly meeting's committee, waiting for 
Dover Quarterly Meeting, which is to be held at this 
place to-morrow and the day following. . . . We sat 
nearly eight hours in Salem Quarterly Meeting, held last 
fifth-day at Lynn, before the Gurneyites got ready to ad- 
journ and leave Friends in possession of the house. About 
fifty men remained, including the committee of the yearly 
meeting; there were, however, but six or seven women, 
the rest clinging to the skirts of a distinguished female 
minister there, who is not j'ct prepared to take a stand 
herself with us, although she -advised her husband and 
children to do so, and they did. Oh, the baneful effects 
of the love of popularity! How few there are that arc 
willing to be of no reputation, for His sake who left us an 
example that we should follow Him ! 

North Berwick Monthly Meeting occurred the same day 
as Salem Quarterly Meeting: and the ( iiirneyites here, 
with J. D. L. at their head, separated themselves there- 
from, in consequence < f the old Clerk being in unity with 
Friends; and the time of his appointment having expired, 
they sought to effect a change, much in the same way they 
did in Swan/ey Monthly Meeting, as told in the Address. 
Hut failing to do so in the regular way. they persisted in 
the appointment of a new one, Organized a new meeting, 
adjourned it, and left Friends with the regular Clerk ill 
the house, On the men's side, and he also retained the 



1 B 15. ] THOMAS B. QOl LD, 

books and papers. But the women's Clerk wen! off, and 
k the books and papers with her. Fifteen men and 
man; women remained in the house. In Salem, it ap- 
peared tin 4 leaders had previously agreed to make no reply 
anything we might say. To numy of their members, 
much have they been kepi in the dark), the Btate of 
things was comparatively new and unheard of: they ac- 
dingly made many inquiries as to the ground and cause 
of things, which were very fully answered by Friends, 
embracing what our opposers do doubt considered high 
cha gainst themselves in regard to doctrine, disci- 

pline, and bo forth. But they never disputed one single 
word which we uttered, during the six hours we remained 

; and thus very fully manifested the extreme 

weakness of their cause, especially as they were requested 
had in any respect misrepresented them. 

And some of their yearly meeting's committee were pre- 
sent, both old and new ; for they have, it seems, disbanded 

their standing committee, and have now merely got one 
similar to ours, to sustain their meetings, &C. 

Thou hast doubtless heard, that in Sandwich Quarterly 
Meeting, held on Nantucket, there were as many men left 
attended our yearly meeting: and more women, there 
being very nearly, if not quite, one hundred women. 
Truly, in our passing along under many difficulties and 
heavy burdens, we d<> find some bright spots, even such as 
We had not thought or heard of: even such as have been 
fitted and prepared as in the mountains, for the rebuilding 
of the temple: which I have no doubt will yet, as faith- 
fulness is abode in, be beautified and made glorious, as 
in days of old and as in former years. Nevertheless, the 
work is great, the burdens are heavy, and the faithful 
laborers few 

Friends are very anxious to hear how it will go in Ohio. 
Nevertheless, they have seen enough to convince the most 
doubtful of those who endured the test at the yearly meet- 
ing, that it was done in the ordering of Best Wisdom, and 
that a way was wonderfully opened for us. beyond what 
we could have asked, or thought of, or believed. That 
New York committee, which was designed to assist in and 

22 k 



LIFE AND LBTTBR8 OF [184'). 

complete our overthrow, together with the English people, 
proved the means of our being safely and honorably de- 
livered; the counsel of Ahithophel being turned into fool- 
islnn 

Truly thine, 

Thomas B. Gould. 

To Mabtha S. Gould. 

Nobtb BxawiGK, Maine, 26th of 8th mo., 1- ; 
My dear Mabtha : 

We had a tedious time at Lynn; yet I did not 
Buffer as much during the six hours we waited upon our 
opposers, after tin* shutters were closed, before they got 
ready to adjourn, and leave Friends in the house, as I did 
on Nantucket. In this time we had a fine opportunity to 
open up the ground and cause of things; and J. AV. did 
it very fully, without one word of reply from any of them, 
although he charged them boldly. When they at length 
got ready to adjourn, they left about fifty men in the 
house, including the yearly meeting's committee. But 
among the members of Salem Quarterly Meeting who 

remained, there are some very choice Friends, who have 

been fitted and prepared, as in the mountains, for this 

day 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To Martha S. Gould. 

WeSTBROOK, Maim:. 9th mo., 5th, 1845. 

My dbab Martha : 

1 wrote h<»me from the house of Timothy Varney, of 
Kennebunk; and the next evening received thy note, at 
the house of J. IF. in the town of Gorham, about five 
miles the other side of Windham meeting-house, where the 
quarterly meeting was held yesterday. We got to J, IF - 
bouse about sunsel (twenty-five miles from Kennebunk), 
that is, J. Wilbur, I. Bufiinton, and myself, and were very 
kindly received and comfortably entertained ; they being 

farmers, and very clever SOTt of people, although they go 



18 15. | THOMAS i:. QOl LD. 

b " tlif body." William and Elizabeth Hill, and Mary 
I us there in about an hour after; the two 
former having returned from Kennebunk, in order to d 
and bring dear Mary Davis; she having been home since 
the quarterly meeting at Berwick, and returned again 
bear us oompany in this painful Bervice, to the conclusion 
thereof. 

Perhaps this was the largest quarterly meeting ever 
held here. It not being known thatwewere in the neigh- 
borhood (by the rulers), until we drove ap to the meeting- 
house, it produced great excitement among them: and 
Stephen Jones, his brother Thomas, and Nathan Pope, an 
elder, joined by Edward Wing, took an opportunity with 
John Wilbur before meeting, and charged him to leave 
alter the first meeting closed. I. seeing they had J. W., 
joined them: I. B. followed; when Edward Wing told 
them he supposed they knew we had all been disowned! 
which however did not frighten any of as. We took com- 
modious Beats in the meeting; and soon after, a young 
upstart, whoso name is J , delivered one of their broad- 
sides, and a little after A. It. poured out another, which last 
was quite ingeniously done. She alluded to Balaam'* being 
hired to curse Israel, his seeking for and using divinations 
and enchantments, Israel's abiding in their tents, and his 
curse being turned into blessing, &c. But J. Wilbur 
od up shortly, and turned it all back upon her and 
them in a most workmanlike manner; showing that that 
people were no longer safe than while they did truly abide 
in their tent, dwelt alone, &c. : and that even Balaam 
taught Balak to lay a stumbling-block before the children 
of Israel ; how they stumbled and fell upon it, and event- 
ually became scattered and mixed among the people, for 
want of truly and really abiding m Him who had led them 
and preserved them while they stood in obedience to and 
dependence upon Him. This stirred up a silly woman 
who has lately been recommended here. The burden of 
her song was love, love, love !— everything that occasioned 
strife, she said, was Anti-Christ, and so might be known. 
etc. Here I could scarcely refrain from reviving the 
query: " Think ye that I came to send peace on earth? 



260 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1845. 

I 1 1*11 you nay, but a sword/ 1 and " to Bet the son against 
the father, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in- 
law;" — and "the greatest enemies a man hath shall be 
they of his own household." But before 1 thought it sea- 
sonable to stand up, J. II., who i> very deal', and proba- 
bly did not hear anything that had been said, rose op, 
speaking comfortably to those who were oppressed; but 
he did expose the nakedness and shame of the rulers. He 
uttered much sound doctrine and many home-truths; hut 
I could not feel easy to follow linn. He is a thorough 
" come-outer," of whom there are many in these parts, 
who serve to rebuke those degenerated professors; as it is 
written, " I av i 1 1 rebuke them by them that are no people, 
and by a foolish nation will I anger you;" but as they 
would gladly join hands with us if we would have them, it 

makes our path the more difficult. Young J however 

again stood up, and said something more ; when they shook 
hands; after which Stephen Jones requested "Friend*" 
both men and women, to keep their seats, and those who 
were not) to withdraw. Many left the house, — all, I sup- 
pose, who were desired to leave, except ourselves. After 
sitting.ior some time, we were formally requested to leave. 
John Wilbur attempted to make reply, on which he was 

eral times interrupted by Stephen and Thomas Jones; 
for whom he stopped till they had done, and then went on 
again, they crying out, "We have no unity with thee or 
thy company/' But John proceeded till Stephen Jones 
requested men Friends to go into the women's apartment 
(the house being in two parts), which they seemed to 
understand, and acted accordingly, going out in confusion, 
while John Wan-en cried aloud, " We have no fellowship 
with the unfruitful works of darkness!" 

On getting out of the door, we found a strong guard 
placed at that into which ^t/tr body" were entering. One 
of the sentinels was calling out, " Friends, walk in — walk 
in. Friends!" So I stepped up towards the door ; upon 
which he said, "Thee can't go in, thee can't go in!" I 
inquired, u Is this the way you entertain strangers ?" — 
he being a man whom 1 had often seen at Newport. He said, 

" It is the way we entertain such as come here to impose 



1 8 IV ] THOMAS B. GOULD, 261 

upon as and disturb as." — " How have I imposed upon or 

you?" — " Thee has been disowned!" — 
by the of Friends." — "Well," said he, "thee is 

o member of our Society; thee can't go in : we can'1 
disturbed." I told him, I should not pro.-- it any fur- 
ther than to clear myself; it was a relief to me that they 
had themselves prohibited us; we were clears and the 
burden must rest upon themselves. There were bu1 two 
male members of this quarterly meeting, who stayed out 
with us. Poor Mary Mavis and Elizabeth Hill had it to 
bear alone in the women's meeting, except dear B.A., 
who is a Bwe£t-spirited woman. After waiting about an 
hour, and finding they would not even open the meeting 
until they left, and that nothing eould be done further 
than the relief of their own minds, these three Friends 
came out and left them. And having ridden seven miles, 

we have found a place of rest and safety at this house, 
where we expect to remain tonight also, as John Wilbur 

has an appointed meeting here this afternoon 

T. B. Gould. 

To Martha S. Gould. 

Yassaluoro', ninth month, Dili, 1845. 

My dearest Martha : 

I wrote last at the house of Ehenezcr Austin, on sixth- 
day I think. The next morning we left in their company 
for Durham, a distance of twenty-four miles ; but John 
Wilbur feeling a concern to appoint a meeting at the 
village of Freeport, six miles short, we stopped there at a 
public house, and stayed the night. Although the notice 
was short, the meeting was large, the landlord kindly in- 
teresting himself to notify the people. Neither himself 
nor wife seemed to know anything of Friends, nor to have 
attended their meetings, although so near to Durham, 
which is a very large one. But I suppose our early 
Friends would have said she was convinced. She was 
truly tender and broken ; could not do enough for us, 
apparently ; and was very reluctant to part with us. 
However, we set out on first-day morning, and rode six 



202 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1645. 

miles to Durham Meeting, in a hard rain : hut we wont 
dry and comfortable before it. Here live S. and T. J., 
and they have poor X. I), for their chief preacher, whom 
they have converted into a hewer of wood and a drat 
of water for them. But on this occasion they had B. J., 
of whom I have before Bpoken, to do their drudgery for 
them : and although we Baid never a word, yet our pre- 
sence was sufficient to call forth their bitterest ire; and 
the Baid Benjamin did preach at us, and "call on the 
name of his Grod" to deliver them, vehemently. Thou 
canal imagine the worst, and not exceed the reality per- 
haps : yet we could bear it very patiently 

While we were in meeting, they turned our horse and 
carriage out of the Bhed under which, as we came early, 
Ave had hitched it : and nmeli ado Ave had to find it, among 
the great number of carriages. No one invited us to dine, 
so Ave rode on, about four miles, crossed the great Andro- 
ggin River, and stopped to dine at a tavern on this 
side, and in full view of it. It is the most rapid river I 
ever saw, running violently over a rocky bed, much of 
which is exposed at this season, as the river is low. 
When high, it must be terrific, even here, yet more so at 

Brunswick, about five miles below this bridge 

Being kindly entertained, and having had a comfortable 
night, we rode on, about eleven or twelve miles, to 
Augusta, the seat of government in the State of Maine. 
Here we stopped at a tavern to dine and have 
our carriage mended : for when within a mile or so of 
Lot Groddard's house, down came the hack bar of our 

carriage After dinner, our carriage being 

ready, we once more set forward towards the north, 
crossed the Kennebec, by the great bridge of Augusta, 
ami rode up its east hank (through the southerly part of 
the town of Vassalboro*), about ten miles, close by the 
river Bide all the way. Then turning east about one mile, 
we came to the house of David Elowland, who, with his 
wife and aged mother, gave us a hearty welcome. They 
were expecting as, as William Hill had written, and it 
was truly grateful to our feelings, once mpre to meet with 

those who could sympathize with US and joyfully r 



[8 15.] THOMAfl B, GOULD. 

ib. . . . Vassalboro' Quarterly Meeting is held on 

Bixth-day, about a mile from this hou 

I have felt very anxious lately: ye1 I have Bometin 
thought, that He who calls for dedication to His cause, 

can keep those who are SO \rvy dear to inc. and whom 1 

have left for its Bake alone, it' it please Him, whether I 
am present or absent. My dear love to father and 

mother, sisters L. and M., and to thyself more than can 

be written or uttered. 

Thy own, 

T. B. Could. 

obi T. B. (i. TO . 

Newport, 19th of ninth month, 1845, 

My dear : 

What do they make of us '.' Do they 

really think that we are so had that we are not fit foi- 
ia!, for relative intercourse ? Truly I have had many, 
very many hitter cups to take at the hands of the Gurney- 
ites, but none were half so bitter as some such as these 
being administered by those who have professed to be our 
friends. Nevertheless I have once more ventured to write 
freely, and as 1 used to do, respecting our affairs. If it IS 
burdensome, I shall regret it sincerely, as I love thee and 
all thine: under which conviction I conclude, and am as 
ever thy affectionate 

Thomas B. Gould. 

When we were coming home from the East, we met 
dear Mary Macey, with Benjamin and Rachel Gardner, 

going down to visit the families of such as would receive 
them, in those Eastern quarters. She had visited many 
families in Lynn, who did not go with us at the time of 
the separation there ; and there were others whom she 
expected to visit on her return. I was at Lynn Meeting, 
both morning and afternoon, last first-day, and had good 
reason to be glad I was there, although it cost dear. 

But I was received beyond all expectation, and very 

differently from what 1 met with East, even by Our- 
neyites. 



264 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1845. 

From Zkno Carpenter to T. B. <-. 

The lltb of 7th mo. 1M.». 

My much beloved Friend : 

I Balute thee in the love of the Gospel, fellow-traveller 
and fellow-soldier, bound to the land and city of God. 
My mind hath been drawn in much sympathy toward thee 
at times, since I saw thee in the city of Philadelphia. I 
wish thy preservation and prosperity every way : that 
thou mayst stand firm and immovable in the living and 
eternal truth. Let thy whole trust and confidence be in 
the holy Rock of Ages, Christ Jesus our Lord. He is the 
same as ever he was, strong and mighty, Lord of heaven 
and of the whole earth. 1 believe thou hast had many 
trials to pass through, many oppositions from those thou 
once travailed in spirit with : may thou be preserved, is 
the fervent prayer and supplication of thy friend, thy 
brother and companion in tribulation. It is beyond the 
expression of pen or tongue to set forth the mercy, the 
goodness, and loving-kindness of the "Ancient of days," 
to His poor dependent creature man. How humbly thank- 
ful ought we to be for His many mercies and kind favors 
conferred upon us ! He is infinite in goodness ; lie is 
often pleased to look down from His excellent glory to 
bless, and favor, and strengthen, and confirm the poor 
weary traveller, that is on the way to the land of eternal 
rest. Well, dear friend, be not discouraged nor dismayed : 
if the Lord is on thy side, who can be against thee? 
Though all the powers of death and darkness, and even 
hell itself, should combine together, yet they will never 
be able to dismount or overthrow a servant of the living 
God, mounted upon the King's horse, and arrayed in royal 
apparel. No, verily: lie is omnipotent and omnipresent; 
He ruleth in the army of heaven, and in the kingdom of 
men ! 

1 trust it is in Gospel h>ve that I felt thus to address 
thee. It lias not been for thyself only, but tbv dear com- 
panion, that I never saw that 1 know of: I felt that love 
t«> flow towards you, that is without bounds. May you 
join heart to heart, and travel hand in hand, in the glo- 



L8 15. ] THOMAS D GOULD. 265 

rious cause; and keep to the law and testimony, and to 
the Bentiments of the Society of Friends, though many 
may deviate therefrom. I beseech it of you, dear friends 
and feljow-travellcrs, thai you would stand firm and im- 
movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Sou 
will often witness t ho love of God, and His glory, to shine 

in and fill the BOul. What can be named more precious 

and comfortable ? < Hi, matchless goodness and marvellous 
loving-kindness, that a Being, altogether complete without 
as, should thus condescend to bless and to favor! It is 
cause of humility and self-abasement, and to bow in awful 
reverence before the Mosl High, for such dignified favors 
from the great and holy Head of the Church, whose mer- 
cies are innumerable, and still continue to be over all His 
works, new every morning, from generation to generation. 
May we, dear friends, serve, reverence, and adore, and love 
Him, in preference to all sublunary attainments! 

I feel for von in that part of the land: trials, and deep 
ones, await you. Give not back ; maintain your ground, 
your station and standing in truth ; and keep on the watch- 
tower, a place of safety, under the sanctuary of our Lord, 
and out of the reach of the enemy of souls, who is con- 
tinually on the alert, going to and fro in the earth, and 
walking up and down in it. His power is a limited one. 
The power of the Lord is above and over all, almighty, 
eternal, and incomprehensible. Therefore let us trust in 
the Lord, and lean not upon a hollow reed, nor trust in 
man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for therein is no 
safety. Let us pray fervently that the Lord from on high 
will be pleased, in unmerited mercy, to remember us, poor, 
frail, and finite creatures. There is nothing that we can 
do of ourselves, as men and creatures, that will in the least 
redound to the honor and dignity of the great and holy 
Head of the Church. May the u Ancient of days" keep 
and preserve you, and poor me, in His holy fear and 
counsel ; that we may be strengthened to pursue the high 
and holy way that leads to the land of everlasting rest, 
and out of the reach of all trouble and temptation, to join 
the celestial family, and the spirits of just men made per- 

23 



2GG LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1846. 

fret, to Bing the holy song of redeeming love, where God 
i riumphantly with His saints ! 
From your affectionate friend and well-wisher, 

Zbno Carpenter. 



From T. B. G. to Joshua and Sarah Maule. 

Newport, 1st month, 6th, 184G. 
My dear Brother and Sister: 

.... As you may not have heard how we poor pil- 
grims fared after Ave left Berwick, where, I think I stated 
in my last, Dover Quarterly Meeting was to be held, I will 
just say that no quarter below Dover was sustained, al- 
though we went down to Fairfield, which is the lowest. It 
appealed that the Gurneyites came to a conclusion, after 
Dover Quarter, not to allow us to sit in the meetings for 
discipline; thus laying aside their resolutions to be quiet 
and bear with us, which they made so much boast of at 
Lynn. And at Dover, J. D. L. and his partisans nearly 
raised a mob while so earnestly recommending quietness 
and patience under their sufferings; sufferings produced 
only by our presence and pleading with them not to sell 
their birthrights for a mess of pottage, nor to exchange 
the inheritance of their forefathers for another. But they 
found, to their great chagrin and vexation, that while they 
allowed us to sit and state our case, as way opened for it, 
we gained the ears of some in every quarter, who had 
before been kept in ignorance of the true ground of the 
controversy: that they were losing ground, and we were 
gaining it, and that it would not do any longer to " suffer 
patiently," even such as it was, and as they suffered. But 
they must resort next to stratagem, and then to force. 
So, at Falmouth Quarter, which followed Dover, they did 
allow us to enter the public meeting; not, however, without 
vainly attempting to extort a promise of silence therein, 
and of leaving at the close. And at the close, they first 
requested those who were not members to withdraw, and 
BO gOl rid of spectators. Then, as we did not leave, they 
singled US out. and formally requested us to do so, but not 
very civilly. We did not comply; and they then requested 



18 16.] THOMAS B. aoi u>. 

the men to withdraw into the women's apartment, and hur- 
ried them, first oul of that part of the meeting-house, and 
then into the other, while a strong guard at the door pre- 
vented us from entering; which, however, we made no 
other attempt to do in any case, than just to advance to- 
wards it in a peaceable and becoming manner. But it' we 
had advanced with the same determination to enter, which 
they manifested to keep as out, we should soon have brought 
them to Mows! It was, however, no way flattering to the 
intellects of those assembled, to witness how submissively 
thev Buffered themselves to be dragged into the assemblies 
of a professedly non-resisting people. However, at Fair- 
field Quarter (the next in point of time), they would not 
allow any of US, either male or female, to enter the public 
meeting for worship (so called): our women Friends had 
not been reached by the manoeuvre which excluded the 
male members of the committee from Falmouth Quarter, 
and had had some effective service in the women's meet- 
ing; although thev were of course not able to sustain it. 
Thev would not even open that meeting during their pre- 
sence, under a pretence they had no right to sit; yet neither 
of them had even been treated with at that time. So, after 
clearing themselves, they quietly withdrew, and joined the 
men Friends, who Avere standing in the yard, hard by the 
meeting-house ; into which the poor Gurney people were 
crammed and locked, for very fear that any one should 
even feel a curiosity to speak with us outside ! Truly we 
were made spectacles to men at least; but we did not envy 
them their condition, or covet their feelings ; and I con- 

j, theirs seemed to me a truly pitiful case. 

But to return to Fairfield. We reached the meeting- 
house early, and found the doors locked, and a guard 
close by, watching. Our dear friend, Mary Davis, first 
ascended the steps, which were several feet above the 
ground, and tried the door in vain ; upon which she took 
her stand on one side of it, against the Bide-light of the 
door, from which she did not move, after, till we left ; 
as when the people began to muster, the guards stood 
between her and the door, to prevent her entrance. Many 
people collected and stood around, Avondering; they not 



268 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1846. 

seeming as willing — other persuasions I mean — to be drag- 
ged or driven in. as our former Friends at Falmouth. It 
produced quite a sensation among the bystanders. And 
one of the guard, named D. D., in the station of an elder, 

treated Mary Davis verv rudely, pushing, and crowding, 
and elbowing her, to get her off' the platform of the steps 
endwise, whence she must have fallen several feet to the 
ground. Bui standing as she did between the posts, and 
against the side-light of the door, she was enabled, without 
any unseemly effort, to keep her feet ; and during this time 
she had a remarkable testimony to bear to these door- 
keepers : in which she spoke in a singular manner, which 
I could not then exactly comprehend, of the shortness of 
time, and how very dangerous it was to do anj'thing, under 
excitement, and a false, blind zeal, which would militate 
against us, and prove our burden, at the day of righteous 
retribution ! She did not speak loud, or so as to disturb 
those in the house, and moreover she was outside of the 
porch door. But David made a deal of noise, crying out 
against her for speaking, and trying to push her down 
while under that exercise. However, she did speak several 
times particularly to them, and before she had done, he 
gave over pushing. 

A. W., another of their elders, and late superintendent 
of the yearly meeting school, peremptorily commanded us to 
leave the premises, and declared, if we did not, they would 
make us ; for, said he, in a very boisterous manner (which, 
however, did not seem to disturb those in the house), "we 
will have none of your preaching here." After a while, 
the doorkeepers having succeeded, by great efforts, in get- 
ting all but ourselves into the house, and our friends feel- 
ing easy to do so, we got into our carriages, and joyfully 
turned our faces homewards. However, we still had an- 
other such scene to pass through, the same week, at Vas- 
salboro' Quarter; only here the guard failed to drive, or 

to call, and invite, and persuade, and entreat 

all present to enter the house. Quite a company remained 
outside with us. We withdrew a convenient space from 

the house; the young nun brought logs from the woods; 
and it proved one of the most solid and remarkable meet- 



18 16. | THOMAti B. QOl LD. 269 

ings which I ever attended. Ye\ those members of this 
quarter who stayed with as, did not think they could bus- 
tain the quarterly meeting ; which I regretted, as there 
was quite a sufficient number, it' they had had a little more 
faith. 

On looking over this letter, I find, that I 

omitted to Btate, while speaking of the very remarkable 
communication which dear Mary Davis delivered to the 
doorkeepers on the steps of Fairfield Meeting-house, how 
her communication, which seemed singular to me, although 
I had at the time no doubt of her authority, was explained. 
Two days afterwards, we heard that a noted Gurneyite 
minister, who went down, on the other Bide, to visit these 
quarterly meetings (and who had been extremely severe 
and abusive on John Wilbur and Mary Davis, both in the 
public and business meetings at Falmouth Quarter, the 
week before), had died very suddenly, and apparently in- 
sible, while on her way to Fairfield ; and her husband 
was then on his way home with her corpse ; of which 
neither Mary Davis nor any of our company had then 
heard, or had the least outward hint ; but which was well 
known to these people, and when we afterwards heard of 
it, served to explain some of their conduct otherwise not 
easily accounted for, any more than Mary's preaching. 
"What puzzled me, was her speaking to them of such a 
thing having occurred among their ranks, as she did, and 
warning them therefrom, dwelling upon it, enforcing it ; 
when I could not think of any case to which what she 
said was applicable, in the sense in which it was uttered. 
But they doubtless thought she knew all about it, and so 
shifted it off; although I know she was entirely unin- 
formed of the fact, until two days afterwards. And to 
me it afforded a fresh and instructive evidence, that the 
spirit of prophecy is still bestowed even upon some of 
those who are accounted as the outcasts of Israel. . . . 

Truly and affectionately yours, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



23* 



270 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [184G. 

To Ethan Foster. 

Newport, 22d of first month, 184G. 

My dear Friend : 

As for , I have not heard 

from him since 1 saw thee. I have never written to him 
since the yearly meeting, when I did reply to hia notice of 
the famous committee of their meeting for Bufferings eoming 
here; which letter I believe lie never received. I very 
much regret he should have acted as he did, according to 
the account in thy letter. But when I see the con 
pursued by some in Philadelphia, of whom we have had 

more reason to expect different things (for has 

always treated us and our cause more or less in a business- 
like, counting-house, or political manner), I am the less 
disposed to marvel at him, this time, although I wholly 
disapprove of it. We certainly have seen something of 
the same thing at head-quarters, though manifested per- 
haps in a somewhat different and more refined way : and 
how they are going to extricate themselves from the 
dilemma in which, as I view it, they are becoming 
more and more involved, I am wholly at a loss to deter- 
mine. Poor is in a very delicate and critical situa- 
tion, between two fires, and hard work I think he finds it, 
to reconcile and explain matters. 

If our Philadelphia " Friend" had taken 

high, and truly Christian, or Quaker ground, with what 
additional weight would they have been enabled to rally 
to the standard of truth, which they still profess a strong 
desire to adhere to ; but it is mournfully evident, that it 
musl nevertheless be in their own way and time. They 
do not like at all, for us to suppose that there is any 
change amongst them adverse to us ; and yet it requires 
but little discernment, to see that there is, and in promi- 
nent places too. There certainly, as E. Wardlaw said, 
in another case, has been an amazing falling off; — a sor- 
rowful disposition "to do the dews a pleasure," at our 
expense. There is a deal of working, manoeuvring, and 
contrivance, to avoid the conflict, all neatly done up under 
the convenient plea of waiting for the right time to come. 



18 16.] Tih'.M \s B. QOULD. 271 

ertheless, we have some firm Friends left there yet, 
but evidently themselves under bondage to those, who, 
John Barclay once said, in a Letter to thy father Wilbur, 
" stand 1 1 i i_r 1 1 and bear rule, but whose feet have well-nigh 
slipped, the dragon having nearly swept them down with 
those who have fallen." However, I am nol without an 
impression that all these manceuvrings will be overruled 
for good in the end. I Bhould not be surprised if it 
should result in Philadelphia as it did here ; if the very 

plans, which arc laid with the utmost caution in the 

power of man (whoso wisest conn-els are often foolish- 

should prove the means of helping us, and of the 

ipe of Mich among themselves as are hound with a 

heavy yoke 

It seems they have already granted certificates to 
enable their members to marry on the other side: within 
the limits of their yearly meeting, which is ** never going 
to own the Gurneyites !" — and it turns out, in the conclu- 
sion of the whole matter, that it is only " pretty much 
understood that there shall be no obstruction thrown in 
the way of marriage, until [that] yearly meeting decides 
the question !" We may guess when this is to be done, 
by a hint or two thrown out, that they are anxious to 
obtain all the information they can; so that, if way should 
open for it, they may prepare and publish a statement of 
the rise and progress of this heresy, beginning with 
Beaconism, bringing in Henry Bewley's book, and so 
beating about the bush, and prolonging the thing, as "to 
allow time" for their members to consider and understand 
the matter, before they are called upon to decide upon 
our epistle ; or rather, before they do decide to receive it ! 
Why, we have been gravely informed, that there is no 
doubt but we shall in time be owned by Philadelphia 
Yearly Meeting, "if" — mark — " if we are careful to 
keep up our yearly meeting !" Now, my dear friend, 
how long dost thou think we shall have to keep it up, 
according to this rule, before that material event takes 

place ? I could give names, but I forbear 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



272 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1846. 

From Zeno Carpenter to T. B. and M. S. Gould. 

CncA. the 7th of Dili mo., 1846. 

Dearly beloved Friends: 

I received your \rvy acceptable letter the day before I 
left New Y<>rk. about the time the yearly meeting ended. 
Sou have at times been brought very fresh to my memory, 
and near to my best life, fellow-travellers, bound to Zion, 
the city of the Living God; be not discouraged nor dis- 
mayed, though trials may await you. It's through great 
tribulation that the righteous enter the kingdom, and the 
seed is under suffering. Well, my dear friends, I feel 
myself poor and dependent, stripped and destitute, with 
nothing to rely on but the mercies and merits of Jesus 
Christ, often having to go as into the stripping-room, 
sometimes concluding I am one of the least of all the 
family: ami have been of late under many discouragements 
on account of the situation of this poor Society. How I 
have most fervently desired that we might unite and har- 
monize together ! I have heard nothing from you in that 
land since your yearly meeting, how you fare, whether 
you still are encouraged to believe you have pursued a 
right course. I have fervently desired for you, that in 
your solemn assemblies you may find Him, of whom Moses 
in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, 
to strengthen you to pursue the heavenly journey to- 
wards the land of promise. I have prayed fervently for 
the preservation of the " smaller body" in New England, 
Bhall 1 say. the little flock and royal family. May the 
"Ancient of days" keep and preserve you in His fear and 
Counsel, that you may stand firm and inflexible in the glo- 
rious cause of Truth and Righteousness! Keep low and 
humble, in humiliation and self-abasedness, and to sound 
orthodox Quaker doctrine. Let us harbor no new views, 
nor newfangled sentiments, but those laid down by our 
forefathers and predecessors in the truth — never a more 
consistent chain of religious sentiments; let us keep firm 
thereto, and be careful of imbibing these new floating doc- 
trines in our land, of those who say they are in accord- 
ance with ancient Friends. I believe there will be a small 



L8 16, ] thou \s b, aoi i.!'. 278 

Dumber who will Btand through all the storms and tem- 

1 through :ill the trials that await as; — thai 

y will never be extinct. There will be, I firmly 

believe, a remnant preserved thai will serve the Lord with 

fidelity and uprightness. These will be more and more 

engthened to combal every difficulty, every trial and 
temptation of the enemy of souls, who is continually on the 
alert to draw aside from the narrow rpad. II' these stand 
firm, Satan with all his combined forces, never will be able 
to surmount n<>r overcome these dedicated servants and 
handmaidens, thai put their whole trusl in the Omnipo- 
I Arm of divine power, who is God over all and blessed 
forever ! 

It is a day of days, a day of mourning and lamentation, 
as ii was anciently, " Rachel weeping for her children, 
and would not be comforted because they are not." The 
ways of Zion do truly mourn, because bo few come up to 
her solemn feasts, bo few are concerned to come up to the 
help of the Lord, against the mighty, that old, hateful 
and potent enemy. I am a secret mourner, I go mourn- 
ing on the way, not only for my own short-coming, but 
for the declension of the Church from her ancient and 
primitive simplicity and purity. " Call the husbandman 
to mourning, and those that are skilful of lamentation to 
wailing ; for in all streets shall be wailing !" Oh ! my 
friends ! how I do sincerely pray that this little flock 
and family may be preserved, her stakes lengthened, 
and cords strengthened, that there may still continue to 
be a succession of living standard and testimony bearers, 
that will stand firm for the cause and testimony, and 
through divine assistance stand immovable against all the 
powers of death and darkness. This is the fervent desire 
of one that wisheth health and salvation to the whole 
human race and family, and especially to the household of 
faith. 

I should have liked to have heard how you got along 
in your yearly meeting ; whether you were favored with 
the owning presence of kind Providence, and to feel J lis 
holy and sweet influence to the soul. What more precious 
than when we can feel the love of God and his glory to 



21 ! LIFE AND LETTE [1846. 

Bhine in and fill the bou] ? I am enamoured with it — it is 
worth more than a thousand of this world in a day that id 
fasl approaching, when we must appear before the Lord 
and Judge of all the earth, to receive a reward for the 
deeds done in the body. And may we, dear friends, be 
prepared for it. having oil in our vessels, and lamps burn- 
ing, that we may have a welcome admittance into the Joys 
of our Lord! 1 feel comforted this morning, while 1 am 
writing, and am humbly thankful if I can be favored to 
feel a quiet mind. Oh, matchless goodness and marvel- 
lous loving-kindness, that He is Btil] mindful of us, and 
has not forgotten to be gracious. — that a Being altogether 

DO © < 

complete without US, should thus condescend from His ex- 
cellent glory, to bless and to favor with His sweet and 
sanctifying presence ! 

1 Bhould like to know, if thou wast willing to inform me, 
how you got along in your yearly meeting. There are 
many reports, and many hard sayings, concerning the 
" small body," as that there are " only a few stragglers 
gone off." I wish you in that part of the land to pay 
heed to this holy Teacher and Guide into all truth. Then 
no doubt you will advance in piety and virtue, and in- 
crease in number. There are comparatively few in this 
yearly meeting but what are Gurneyitcs; some meetings 
about all. 

I now conclude, hoping I have written nothing that 
will be disagreeable to read; and may we, dear friends, if 
we never meet again in mutability, meet in the royal 
palace of God, to sing the song of redeeming love! 

four sure friend, 

Zeno Carpenter. 

Draft oka Letter prom T. B. G. to Zbno Carpenter. 

Newport, 9th mo. 11th, 1846. 
Mv ENDEARED FATHERLY FRIEND : 

It is truly pleasant and strengthening to 
my dear wife and to myself, to gel thy sweet and lively 
epistles, exhibiting a greenness in old age, and that " thine 
eye is not dim," in a spiritual sense, nor thy "natural 



18 16, | THOMAS B, GOULD, 275 

force abated/ 1 thai thy Bword is bright and thy harm 

! li-i\N \'rw are left, compared with the " thou- 
ds of ferae! " who once quickly responded to the Bound 
the trumpet, and were "prepared for war" when 
well-known and certain sound "waked ap the mig 
men!'' These things, the present of things in our 

now poor and tempest-tossed, but once highly favored and 
firmly anchored 8 y, as thou very justly remarkest, call 
for mourning and lamentation, and no1 only so, but for 
those who are "skilful" therein. Yel how few there are 
who are truly skilful in this day, in discerning the signs 
of the times! 1 1 « » a should those be able to discern and 
distinguish clearly, who have not only turned their hacks 
upon the light which maketh manifest, but are even dis- 
posed to deny its existence? Still I am comforted in the 
belief, that there is a living remnant preserved, up and 
down, who go sorrowing on their way, k * weeping day and 
night for the slain of the daughter of my people;" and 
that, for the sighing of these poor and the crying of the 
needy, who have none in heaven or in all the earth to look 
unto, but Him who is mighty to save and able to deliver 
even unto the uttermost, the Lord Almighty, in His own 
due and appointed time, will arise. Even when the days 
of mourning are ended, and the time is fulfilled, then He 
will give unto these the oil of joy for mourning, and the 
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; then will 
Zion arise and shine, because her light is come, and the 
glory of the Lord hath arisen upon her. 

Thou inquirest about our yearly meeting, and whether 
Friends are still encouraged to believe they have pursued 
a right course ; also in regard to our numbers. Now, it is 
true we are few in number, compared with those who have 
gone out from us because they were not of us, and because 
they were seeking an easier way than that of the cross. 
Still, our yearly meeting this year was much larger than 
last, there being between eighty and ninety men. and 
more than a hundred women in attendance ; which, if I am 
rightly informed, is larger than Baltimore has ever been 
since the .Hicksite separation. But if we had ever sup- 
posed that the right and wrong of the matter depended on 



276 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

the relative numbers, we have been favored to witn 
enough of the presence of Him whose promise is as good 
to the "two or three" who meet in His name, and arc 
gathered to His power, as to the multitude, — to convince 
us of the contrary. So far as 1 know or ran judge, 
Friends are still encouraged, and I think more and more 
so, to believe thai they did pursue a right course. Nothing 
which has since transpired has ever shaken my faith herein. 
Indeed it is cause of humble thankfulness, that we have 
been favored to receive so many confirmations of the rec- 
titude of the course, which, under an extremity, we pur- 
sued, hut not without "great searching of heart," and 
fervent and united aspirations for Best Help and Direc- 
tion: which, through adorable mercy, was not withheld, 
as we humbly trust, either then or since. Surely the 
Lord is good to them that wait upon Him, to the soul that 
keth Him : and as in the individual, so in the collective 
capacity. I think I never sat in a more solid yearly 
meeting, or more favored with the overshadowing of good. 
Still ^e feel very weak, and wo are so. Much, yerymuch, 
needs to be done, to bring things into the good order of 
the Grospel, which has been so long disturbed by the im- 
position of unsanctified hands 

From T. B. G. to John Wilbur. 

Newport, 10th mo. 11th, 1846. 
My dear Friend, John "Wilbur: 

I have not been unmindful of having given thee encou- 
ragement at parting, that I would write on my return from 
Nantucket. But as I stayed there over first-day, I did 
not reach home until Last third-day, and have been very 
closely and necessarily engaged ever Bince. . . . Nathan 
Page and wife, and Lois Ives, were there. The former 
had an appointed meeting on Fourth-day evening, which 

Was large, and very solid, although it held considerably 

more than two hours: I marvelled at the patience of the 
people. The meeting held one hour before Nathan said 
anything; he stood an hour the first time, ;md about 

twenty minutes the second, with some pause between, and 



"Kill.] rnoiM OULD. 277 

more after. Bui although he was thought to he favored, 
I did insider him to be as much Id I he 

>rning, or the public quarterly m< the 

next day. On both these occasions, he seemed to me and 
others to be eminently favored. The Bhutters also were 
opened on his account, after the business was concluded, 
and the service on this occasion devolved wholly upon him. 
Ilr had, I understood, a public meeting at Padan Aram 
(or some Buch place), in the neighborhood of New Bedford, 

first-day morning, and public notice given of his attend- 
ance at New Bedford in the afternoon. I was told, their 
new house was nearly or quite filled, and that he stood 
about an hour and a half at each place. . . . On 

h and seventh-days, I went with Prince Gardner and 
Peleg Mitchell, to see a few sick and afflicted people, — 

sonic six or eight families. — without seeing much more 

... 
than a compliance with Friends' desire, that they should 

l>e noticed, except in two or three cases, where I felt par- 
ticularly drawn. These last were to me times of favor, 
soon to be forgotten ; and as for the others, I suppose 
the purpose was answered merely by our calling. 
I felt well satisfied with sitting with Friends there, in their 
meetings on first-day, without any notice being given. 
There appeared to be over two hundred persons present, 
both fore and afternoon. The meetings were mostly 

silent 

By a letter recently received from Philadelphia, it ap- 
pears there are others there who entertain the same views 
as dear old E. C. The letter says, we "need not expect 
much from those who stand high and bear rule in the city;" 
that if they can only get matters settled without a separa- 
tion, they will care but little what becomes of us ! In 
order to effect this, the writer thinks that they will write 
again to London, complaining of J. J. G., and that he will 
eventually be induced to take back some things and smooth 
down others, and so the whole thing will be hushed up and 
quieted down, without being probed to the bottom ! To 
prepare the way for this, she says, the doctrine of quiet- 
ness, charity, forbearance, &c, is being preached now by 
some who have been themselves subjected to this kind of 

24 



278 J.I I i: AND LETTEB8 OF [184lh 

censure, formerly, on account of the same kind of "im- 

prud< nee," by plain-speaking and straightforward conduct, 

which, in their turn, they now bestow upon others not yet 

remodelled. She Bpeaks of B. II. W. and many other 

honest friends, as having been brought under this quieting 

influence, 30 as to be made willing to wait "five years," 

for those not yet prepared to take a stand in our favor, 

without 1'idiiu: aware of the nature and design of it at all. 

.... . 

She says, this kind of feeling prevails most, where the 

man. whom W6 all most deeply lament and deplore, as a 
standard-bearer having fainted, has most influence. The 
letter gives rather a discouraging view of things, Loth as 
it respects their standing and our prospects, so far as it 
relates to our being owned l>y them as a yearly meeting. 
The writer, however, seems to think we are as well off as 
any other yearly meeting; and of this, BO far as it relates 
to Grurneyism, under one phase or other, there seems to be 

little doubt 

Thy sincere friend. 

T. B. Gould. 

To John Wilbur. 

North Berwick, Me., L9th of 10th mo, 1846. 

Mi drab Friend, John Wilbur: 

.... .....* 

Salem Quarterly Meeting was attended by about five- 
and-twenty men ; and about half that number of women 
stayed through the meeting, some haying left at the close 
of the public meeting, which was long silent, and laborious 
indeed to me; although, after Nathan Page had spoken, 
the clouds seemed to disperse. The meetings for business, 
both men's and women's, seemed to be times of more open- 
ness and favor, and I trust it ended pretty well. The next 
evening we had an appointed meeting at a pretty village, 
about a mile northeast of Nathan Page's house: which 
was well attended, the house being nearly filled; among 
the rest, one of Governor Endicott's descendants, bearing 
his name, was present. The people seemed raw enough, 
ami scarcely to know anything of Friends 1 principles, 
Some of which were opened to them; and eventually the 



18 16.] THOM L8 B. 601 LD. 279 

w:iv was made for the declaration of the Gospel to th< 
in, I humbly trust, a good degree of the spirit and power 
of it. After which, Nathan preached to them a pretty 
long while; when, having expressed satisfaction with the 
company of Buch as had given attendance, the meeting 
separated under a covering of much solemnity. 

Sesterday, being first-day, we sal with Friends of North 
Berwick in the morning, and in the evening attended a 
meeting previously appointed for us at Great Falls. J 
went to it under a feeling of inexpressible discouragement. 
The whole day and evening was very wet, dark, and un- 
comfortable; but I was surprised, on entering the Town 
Hall, a very targe and beautiful building, in which it was 
held, to find many people already assembled, notwithstand- 
ing the inclemency of the weather; and I can truly say, 
that I rejoiced in the conviction that the Master was with 
them. Others soon came in. to the number, a- Friends 
thought, of seven or eight hundred; and I thought I was 
never made more feelingly sensible of the flowing and 
abounding of Gospel love towards any people, than to 
them; of which I soon apprehended it to be my duty to 
inform them. 

A door of utterance and of entrance was mercifully and 
largely opened. Many literally said, Amen, to the Gospel 
truths declared; and. having taken my seat, a Methodist 
minister present, who, it seems, had been previously pre- 
pared to believe and to practise upon that divine precept, 
" Freely ye have received, freely give," stood up and ex- 
pressed his great joy at having been not only permitted to 
hear the word of the Lord, but to feel the power, life, and 
substance of the things spoken of; adding, that he also 
could say, that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of 
Christ, because it is the power of God unto salvation to 
them that believe, — that, as long as he could remember, 
Friends had borne testimony to the power of the Gospel, 
to vital, practical, inward religion, to the substance of 
things, and against the form and shadow, — that his heart's 
desire and prayer was, that they might never lower this 
standard: but, on the contrary, might go on and prosper, 
and be enabled to exalt it, until others should be induced 



280 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [184G. 

to rally to it. and to fighl under it, — adding, there never 
3 more need, &c. Ii !, 1 thought, a little too loi 

ilemnity continued ; and belies ing it right for me 
to add a very few words, by way of acknowledgment, of 
their company and <:<><>d l)oliavior, and earnestly and affec- 
tionately commending them unto I rod and the word of His 
grace, as to thai which was able to build them up, and to 
give them an inheritance among all those who are sancti- 
fied, the meeting was concluded, under a feeling of unut- 
terable thankfulness to the God and Father of all our Bure 
mercies, who had been pleased to send us help from the 
sanctuary, and to strengthen as out of Zion. Thou seest 
I have written freely to thee, believing it was thy due to 

know a little how Ave have grot along 

Do please write to me; and when it is well witli thee, 
remember one of the poorest and weakest children (if I 
may he called one) that was ever sent out on sueh an 
errand. Farewell. 

Thine as ever. 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To Martha S. Gould. 

Salem, 24th of 10th month, 184G. 

My dear Martha : 

.... We reached William Hill's about nine o'clock, 
and the next day went, in company with William and 
Elizabeth, down to Kennebunk, where the Baptist meet- 
ing-house was well filled with people ; who. although much 
unacquainted with Friends, came in very orderly at a 
quarter before eighl o'clock, and behaved solidly and well 
through a pretty long Bilence; and how much longer it 
would have remained so 1 do not know, if Mary Varney 
had not "opened a door" for me, which I found it my 
place to enter, and things were opened which perhaps they 
never thought or heard of before. After which, dear Eli- 
zabeth Hill did preach mosl Bweetly to them. She rather 
i>xc('r<\^ my expect at ions: still I had expected much of her. 
A fter she sal down, I found it my place to show iV<>m Joel, 

[UOted and applied by the Apostle Peter, that the Spirit 



1846. | Tll-M LS B. GOULD. 281 

was to be poured oul on daughters as well as bods, &c. 
I fell great openness, both in regard to the call and quali- 
fication for the ministry, and the aature of Divine worship : 
Jso of tin' necessity for all ministers of Christ Impli- 
citly to obey EDs injunction: " Freely ye have received, 
freelv rive." 

We returned the Bame night to William Bulls, and 
reached there about twelve o'clock. But there was one 
thing 1 forgot to mention. Soon after we got to Timothy 
Varney's, at Kennebunk, J. M. and his wife, who live some 
thirty miles l»rlow. came there, on their way home, to stay 
all night, not knowing of om- presence. They wore Gur- 
neyites, old people, and the woman had abused John Wil- 
bur shamefully, when he Was lately in their country. Be- 
fore meeting, W. Hill and I, Buffinton accosted her pretty 
smartly about it. She shrunk back, as much as I ever 

saw one, but they drew her forth: and when I saw this 
fairly done, I thought I would try a little to help; and 
opening things somewhat as though I did it not, the old 
man began to fall in with what was said, and own it to be 
truth : which he did more and more, till he was not a little 
convinced, and I thought it well to leave the subject. But 
not thinking for all this, that they would dare to go to 
meeting, when we were about to go, Israel said I had 
better take leave of them, as they would most likely retire 
before we came back from meeting : so I shook hands with 
the woman, but offering my hand to her husband, he said 
he thought he should go with us. His wife made some 
objection, but he seemed determined to go, feeble as he 

-. and he went; after which he expressed to Israel his 
satisfaction with the meeting. We returned to William 
Hill's that night, a distance of fifteen miles, and reached 
there about twelve o'clock. 

The next day I was down sick, not having been far from 
it for some days before. Fourth and fifth-days, quarterly 
meeting at Berwick ; about sixty Friends present ; both 
meetings times of favor. An appointed meeting on fourth- 
day evening, at North Berwick village, although Joshua 
Meader and others thought well of it, did not seem to me 
to be quite so well. I had to move very slowly and cau- 

24* 



282 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1846. 

tiously to find the Btepping-Btones, and to keep on them. 
Sixth-day, after quarterly meeting, we went to Lowell, 
William Hill in company; and had an appointed meeting 
there the same evening. But there were not more than 
sixty or seventy people present, the notice being short, as 
it waa late before we could find a place to hold it in ; and 
those who did come were not exactly the persons I had 

wished to see There were some plain and close 

things delivered. We lodged at a great hotel ; and in the 
morning (seventh-day) went, before breakfast, to Boston, 
some twenty miles, after which we proceeded to Rox- 

bury 

We went back to Salem that night, where I commenced 

and wrote the first two sides of this sheet. Attended 
Salem meeting in the morning, and Lynn in the afternoon 
of first-day. After meeting, went over to Boston and 
lodged, in order to reach Fall River (where I am now writ- 
ing) in time to attend their monthly meeting yesterday, 
which I did. I go to Freetown, about eight miles north 
of this, to an appointed meeting this evening, and to-mor- 
row to Luther Lincoln's, twenty-two miles, where there Is 
another meeting appointed for to-morrow evening. . . . 

Thy own, 
• T. B. Gould. 



To Rebecca Walton. 

Newport, 11th mo., 10th, 1846. 
My dear Friend, Rebecca Walton: 

I have 

wanted and intended writing to thee, almost ever since 
thou left ; but waa either too unwell, or top busy to do 
it, before I left home for my eastern journey. When 
1 started, I provided myself with writing apparatus for 
this very purpose, and I think J can truly say that I never 
lost sight of it for a day: but I suffered so much with 
asthma the whole time, that all I could do was now and 

then to write to my dear Martini. 

In respect both to bodily suffering and exercise of mind, 
this journey has, indeed. COSt me dear; but, through un- 



16.] THOMAS i:. &OULD. 

. i had no to doul I the rectitu 

of the concern. < to the contrary, I h; 
in it day by day; and way baa been made for me to 
aloi my bumbling admiration, unspeakable rel 

and apparently to the ction of Friends wherever I 

bave been. 1 > u t it ha med much my lol to go forth 

> the highways and hedges, having meetings in div( 
places where, so far as was known to me or Friends, none 
were ever held before. And although the service v 
laborious, many of the people seeming quite str; to 

our principles, and alike ignorant of " the m; which 

has been hid for ages and generation : many of th< 

on being turned to Christ within, as the Way, the Truth, 
and the Life, the all-sufficient Teacher of His people, and 
the Bure hope of the Baints! glory, — received the word with 
"gladness," and acknowledged that these thing >, — 

some of them in a very remarkable manner. Divers, even 
of the ministers of other societies, Episcopalian, Bapti 
and Methodist, who not only freely opened their meeting- 
houses to US, but themselves attended the meeting — (al- 
though I am very sure their principles were not advocated), 
— acknowledged what was delivered was the word of faith 
which the apostles preached; and in many instances, feel- 
ingly. I thought, hade us God speed. But among the people 
more especially, there evidently was a precious seed to be 
visited, and. I have no doubt, to be yet gathered ; for it did 
and does still seem to me, that in many places the fields 
are already white unto the harvest. But, alas ! the faith- 
ful laborers are few, very few indeed ! Would that the 
Lord of the harvest would send such into the field : and if 
Mich as have been raised up, and qualified and concerned 
to go forth, are unfaithful, I am more and more persuaded 
and convinced, that, as it were, the very stones will cry 
out. 

At Great Falls. New Hampshire, Ave had a meeting on 
a first-day evening, in the Town Hall. The day and even- 
ing were as wet, cold, and uncomfortable as a severe 
northeaster in that cold country could well make it : audi 
did not suppose that there would be more than fifty or 
sixty people out. (There is but one family of Friends in 



LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1840. 

the town, and this family is with us.) But to my great 
surprise, when we reached the house, there were Four or 
five hundred already assembled; and I thought, as 1 en- 
tered and took my seat, that the Master Eimself was 
with them of a truth. Nearly as many more soon after 
came in, and it proved to be, through Holy 1I<'1]». a time 

long to be remembered \t another place, a 

woman having walked five miles to the village of Westport 
in the morning, about her own business, saw the notice 
there of our meeting at three o'clock the same afternoon. 

I felt a strong desire to attend it, but could not without 
returning home ; which she did on foot, and returned in 
the Bame way, making, — if Bhe walked home again, which 
she expected to do, — twenty miles in all, that day. She 

mod a feeble woman, too, but did not apparently regret 
coming. She said, it was ten years since she had attended 
a Friends' meeting. In our passing up and down, now 
and then we fell in with some of the Gurney side, who came 
to meeting, and afterwards went from one meeting to 
another: hut these were young people, wdio probably did 
care much about the matter. 

Having appointed a meeting at Kennebunk, a small 
town in Maine, about fifteen miles east of North Berwick, 
avc went thither, and stopped at the house of Timothy 
Varney, the only Friend.-' family in the place, of any 

iription 

Believe me to be sincerely, 

Thy affectionate friend. 

To Redecca Walton. 

Nkwpokt, 23d of 12th mo.. 1- U>. 

My dear Friend: 

In one of thy letters then asked me to give 

thee that anecdote of Isaac LawtOD and the lit tie negro 

hoy, which I related to thee when thou wast here. I 
quite forgot it when I wrote. It is as follows, as nearly 
as 1 remember : 

During the war of the Revolution, the British army 
took possession of the island of Rhode Island, and kept 



18 16.] THOM \B B. GOULD, 

it for some time — I think one or two years. A company 

at Portsmouth. One day, while Friends thus de- 

prived of the use of it. Isaac Lawton, a minister in good 
esteem, who belonged to thai meeting, fell his mind drawn 

_m to the meeting-house, from which he lived about I 
miles distant. Be went; and after some time, comment 
preaching to the Boldiers present. The opening on his 
mind was large, tin >ern weighty, and he expected to 

have much I : but he had nol proceeded far, when 

his way seemed entirely closed, he fell a full and sat 

down abruptly. This surprised him, after bo large an 
opening, and having, as he thought, clearly seen how he 
to treat the Bubject. He had, however, scarcely taken 
his Beat, when a little negro boy (I think about twelve 
years of age), who was present in attendance upon one 
of the officers, stood up With the same subject, commenc- 
ing where Isaac had left off, and treating it as lie had 
expected to do. lie went on with such clearness and 
authority, and kept so close to what had been opened to 
Isaac's view, that the latter fully expected to be released 
from further labor on that occasion. But the little bey, 
after having spoken at some length, sat down as suddenly 
and unexpectedly to Isaac, as his appearance had been 
unexpected and striking. Isaac Lawton took up the sub- 
ject where the boy left it, and continued to speak until he 
had relieved his own mind. Such is the account of this 
remarkable incident, as nearly as I can remember, in the 
language of Abigail Robinson and Stephen Gould, both of 
whom related it to me in their day, and they both knew 
I. Lawton well. I have also, some time since, seen it 
substantially the same in print — I think, in the " Irish 
Friend." Abigail Robinson was an eminent minister of 
this meeting, and Stephen Gould was a valuable elder, 
who collected an abundance of remarkable anecdotes. . . 

Brother George and sister paid us a visit, the first of 
this month, on their way home from Sandwich Quarterly 
Meeting, held at New Bedford. They reported a good 
meeting, and well attended, although the day was very 
stormy. Seth and Mary Davis, and several Nantucket 



28G i. in: and LETTERS of [1847. 

Friends of their quarterly meeting's committee, had been 
down on the Cape, to visit Sandwich Monthly Meeting, a 
day or two previous. They were not very kindly re- 
ceived, nor allowed to enter the public meeting ! The 
committee reported accordingly, and the quarterly meet- 
ing, having conic to the judgment that that monthly meet- 
mg ought t" be laid down, unless it would conform, &c, — 
made a minute to that effect : which they directed to the 
monthly meeting, in order that if their advice and iudg- 
ment be not regarded, they may dissolve it at their next 
quarter, and attach their members to New Bedford 
Monthly Meeting. I was glad to heat this, as there 
were some suffering cases among the members of that 
monthly meeting, who did not, in effect, belong any- 
where 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 

From Prince Gardner to T. B. (i. 

Nantucket, seventh month, 6tb, 1S47. 
My dear Friend, Thomas B. Gould : 

Thy acceptable letter of the 28th was receive d in due time. 
It was truly a satisfaction to hear from thee and thy dear 
Martha, who has an affectionate abiding-place in my mind, 
haying been long since, I trust, brought into the unity of 
the Spirit in the bond of peace. What a precious favor, 
to be thus united into that oneness with our dear friends, 
whereby we may be enabled to rejoice with those that do 
rejoice, and to mourn with them that mourn ! I think 1 
may Bay, that thou art at times brought to feel as bone 
of my bone and flesh of my flesh, with living desires that 
the dear Redeemer may be round about, in every proving, 
trying dispensation that may be meted out for the accom- 
plishment of His great and sovereign will ; that Ave may 
be enabled often to Bay, thy rod and thy Btaff they comfort 
me. 

Sensible we are, dear friend, of the truth of the decla- 
ration, that as gold and silver are tried in the lire, SO are 

acceptable men and women in the furnace of affliction. I 



L847.] TE( i.i>. 

often feel desirous for myself, thai patience may have ita 

perfect work ; being fully 

liverance will be wrought, by and through Him who \ 

"a man of Borrows and acquainted with grief." An. I we 

have much to be thankful for; many are our 1>I< 

I was ready to Bay, why do these things arise, to write to 

one who knows them well : but perhaps for our mutual 

encouragement, to be enabled to bear all and Buffer all 

that may be dispensed in unerring wisdom, and to lay our 

mouths as in the dust, trusting in the encouraging pron 

Him who Baid, " I will never leave thee nor forsake 
tin- May this be our individual experience, saith my 

til. 

I was pleased to hear of your particular 

meeting, thai thou felt satisfied, and I have no doubt thou 
wilt : and it seems to me as though there might be an in- 
crease. But be that as it may, it' we can feel something 
of the dear Redeemer near, who is often pleased to m 
with those who have to sit in low and solitary places, what 
more can be asked or desired ? To feel something of that 
solemn, quiet covering, which is not at our command, is 
cause of a little renewal of strength ; though I believe 
every rightly exercised mind will feel the awful respon- 
sibility to hold all our meetings in the power of the 
Lord. 

Our love is affectionately to and 

wife, I think I can say, with fervent desires for their en- 
couragement, in this day of close trial and proving of our 
faith and allegiance to the great Head of the Church : 
waymarks to honest inquirers for the truth as it is in 
Jesus, the great Preserver of men; speaking the language, 
in the line of conduct and intercourse with the world, 
Come follow us, as we are endeavoring to follow the great 
Head of the Church. How often are such made preachers 
of righteousness in their daily walks in life ! Thou wilt 
please give our love to thy dear parents, who are often in 
my remembrance, with desires that they, in the decline of 
life, may know a being supported by that supporting arm 
of power, which can cause their setting sun to go down in 
peace. My love is to all who love the unchangeable 



288 LIFE AM> LETTE [18 IT. 

truth. Now I musl . with Baying that a letter from 

,v time will be wry acceptable. Thou hast not 
to learn, thai I am neither a Bcholar nor much of a 
letter-writer; bul in love I do feel at times to adds' 

friends. My dear Mary joins in affectionate 
love to thee and thy dear Martha. Farewell for this 
time. 

From thy attached friend, 

Prince Gardner. 

From T. B. GL to John Wilbur, 

Newport, 20th of ninth month, 1847. 
Mv dear Friend, John Wilbur: 

A friend, 

who visited Ezra Comfort a short time before his death, 
told me recently, that such was Ezra's concern to come 
here, that he then said, if he had strength of body suffi- 
cient, he should make the attempt, notwithstanding the 
objections and opposition of those who hear rule in the 
city. . . . . . 

How lone will these things have to be? Ilowlonir will 
y be permitted to rule, both at home and abroad? — 
hindering some from going, and ethers from coming ; 
neither entering heartily into the work, nor suffering 
others ': I have been ready to query sometimes, whether 
the cause of truth was not likely to suffer as much from 
some who stand high and hear rule in that city, as from 
those whom some of themselves used to denominate the 
" Providence Clique." And it would seem, from the 
effects and extent of their operations, that they are not 

less strongly •■ combined together," to weary us out, and 

rid themselves Of US; however zealously they may exert 

themselves to put forth testimonies against unsound doc- 
trine in the abstract. May they not expect to dispose of 
our rights and interest in the case, the easier, on account 
of having issued these testimonies, as it relates to our 
sincere but unsuspecting friends in that and other yearly 

meetings ? 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas l>. Gould. 



18. | TIIoM \S B. 001 II'. 

TO J< 3H1 \ M LI LE. 

\ no. 27tl 

M\ DE LB BROTHEB : 

Thine of the 20th was duly received yesterday, and ire 
were truly glad to gel it, haying heard nothing from you 
since your last letter, giving an account of your very 
close trials, although we have fell very anxious to hear. 

Thy accounl of the pause to which your ad- 
versaries seemed to have come, reminded me of the pro- 
irs, before the separation. They often 

oaed to come to their " nd," and would sometimes 

-call visible action for several months together; but 
we illy found the old adage verified in them, "after 

aim there comes a storm :" for they never lost sight of 
their work, and would fall upon it again with redoubled 

>r; and it frequently appeared that they had been dili- 

ttly engaged, all the while, maturing their plans, and 
preparing materials in secret, so as to advance with more 
eeiaaint v and effect. But I have sometimes thought, 
and especially since I read thy letter at Greenwich, that 
the worse they act, the better for you, provided always 
that Friends are vigilant and firm. After such a calm 
time, when they 'started again, we generally found they 
had gained one or more, sometime- several, wdio had pre- 
viously travelled with us: and in this way our sufferings 
were greatly increased, until Ave were so reduced in strength 
and numbers, that there seemed to he literally nothing 
left to cling to or rely upon, but the Helper of His people ; 
when all men seemed to forsake us. as they did and still 
generally do. forsake Him. Well, my dear brother ami 
Bister, for very near and very dear you both are to my 
best feelings (as well as natural), whatever conflicts of 
spirit and trials of faith may be your portion, and however 
great the perils to which you may be exposed, among false 
brethren; may your bow abide in strength, and the arms 
of your hands be made strong by the power of the mighty 

I of Jacob, who remains to be both the Shepherd and 
the stone of Israel! He is the Good Shepherd who laid 
down His life, his most precious life, for the sheep ; He 

25 



290 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1848. 

gathers the lambfi in his arms, and carries them in his 
bosom, and Bweetly strengthens their Faith, animates their 
hope, and enc ;es them to bear up and press forward, 
with his own divine injunction and promise: "Fear not, 
little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
you tlic kingdom.' 1 Oh! I am persuaded that as you 
and other Friends there abide faithful unto Him, amidst 
all that has been or may be suffered to como upon you, 
He will more and more lead you into the green pasta 
of life, and cause you to lie down beside the still waters 
thereof, where nothing can hurt you or make you afraid ! 
Even when it shall hail, coming down with destructive 
effect upon the forest (the tall cedars of Lebanon and the 
sturdy oaks of Bashan), " the city shall be low, in a low 
place." The city which the Lord hath chosen, to place 
His name there, to manifest His power there, shall be low, 
in a low place ; and so it, as well as all the inhabitants 
thereof (who have been gathered into it by the power of 
Him who reigneth King in the midst thereof, for it is the 
city of the saints' solemnities, where their spiritual sacri- 
fices and offerings arc daily offered up); — it with its in- 
habitants shall be preserved by Him, who remains to be a 
shadow from the heat, and a covert from the tempest and 
from the storm, even when the blast of the terrible one 
-hall heat against the wall. This is the city which hath 
inundations, whose builder and maker the Lord alone is. 
J [ere the Stone of Israel is found. " Behold I lay in Zion, 
for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a sure founda- 
tion:" whosoever believeth therein and buildeth thereon 
shall neither make haste nor be confounded. Every 
tongue that risetfa up in judgment against these, they 
shall condemn, because they are not to be judged by 
man's judgment, any more than the apostle was. For he 
that is spiritual judge th all things by the spirit of judg- 
ment and of a sound mind, which has been bestowed upon 
him and restored to him, yet he himself is judged of no 
man. Such are not to subject themselves, or rather, sub- 
ject th-- Lord's work and service, to man's judgment ; but 
they are to keep a single eye to Him, and to the support 
of His testimonies, and the honor of his worthy name, and 



18 I s . | THOMAfl B. QOULD. '1 

of the ble88ed unchangeable truth. "To whom ^< i gave 
place by subjection," Baid the faithful and experienced 
apostle, when Borne who Beemed to be somewhat, withstood 
and opposed him, "no, nol for an hour, thai the truth of 
the Gospel might continue with you ! M Ami when the 
truth of the Gospel is involved and at stake, there is 
nothing gained by yielding, time-serving, and political 
manoeuvring; but on the contrary, the cause is given or 
thrown away by it, and our own habitations in the truth are 
not k * kept," but are always greatly endangered, if not ulti- 
mately and wholly lost I conclude, and re- 
main with sincerity, your affectionate brother, 

Thomas B. Gould. 

Fkom Prince Gardner to T. B. G. 

Nantucket, 2d mo. 21st, 1848. 
My dear Fribnd, Thomas B. Gould: 

I have at times thought to address thee in a few lines, 
I trust from near unity of spirit which binds together the 
whole household of faith, extending over sea and land; 
if nothing more, than to serve as a token of my remem- 
brance of thee and thine, and of the many hours spent 
together, in sweet communion ; knowing at times what it is 
to Buffer together, and favored at seasons to be permitted 
to rejoice together, so that we have cause to number our 
blessings, under all our privations. And what a mercy, 
from Him who knows what is best for us, that a little evi- 
dence is at times vouchsafed, that we have so merciful a 
High Priest, touched with the feeling of our infirmities, 
and knowing how to succor all those that put their trust 
and confidence in Him ! 

Thou knowest well, dear friend, what it is to have deep 
afflictions and many discouragements, when at times almost 
ready to say, " Carest thou not that we perish?" But, 
through adorable Mercy, thou hast at seasons felt the 
lifting up of His countenance upon thee, and the Sun of 
righteousness to shine on thy path, and been ready to 
say, " What shall I render unto thee, oh, Lord, for all thy 
benefits !" Then is there not cause to lift up the head in 
hope, trusting in the Lord, journeying forward in the way 



292 LIFE AND LBTTERS OF [1848. 

He is pleased to lead? My mind is engaged for thy en- 
couragement, bo that, in tin- final completion of Hie great 
and sovereign will, thou, with all the faithful, mayst Enow 
a being gathered into that rest prepared for the people 
of ( rod 

When we take a new over our tried Society, and se< 
many who have stood as bright and shining lights, and 
now their brightness is eclipsed, a veil drawn over their 
brightness, is it not enough to make the faithful tremble 
for themseb es, saying, % * Who is sufficient for these things?" 
— having cause to fear thai too many, from not dwelling 
low and humble before the Lord, have been dandled as on 
the lap of Delilah; and strong men have fallen asleep, 
until Bhe has taken the seven locks of their strength, as it 
respects their best interest : and then, in this situation, 
when attempting to move in a sphere they once were en- 
abled rightly to move in. behold their strength is gone ! 
Yet, unwilling their loss should be discovered and their 
nakedness appear, they must be doing something, lest they 
lose their reputation. Thus they join with the great, the 
popular, the worldly and high-minded, or follow in their 
tracks, and fall an easy prey to speculative opinions and 
traditions of men: tossed to and fro, carried about with 
every wind of doctrine — almost anything rather than lose 
their great name ! Well, surely, such do not produce the 
peaceable fruits of righteousness, but on the contrary, dis- 
order and confusion. 

I have long believed, as Friends remain faithful, keeping 
their ranks in righteousness, they need not he over anxious 
as to the future. 1 have an anshaken belief that the Lord 
will ever have a living remnant, whom he will he pleased 
t<> set His name amongst : so that I i'eel desirous that 
Friends making so high a profession may he more ami 
more bringing forth fruits agreeable thereto ; and I hope 
;iml trust it is so. Ami now. in drawing to a close, dear 
friend, I can say we are favored with health, our friends 
generally so. . . Mary unites with me in affectionate 
love to thee, t<» Martha, and your dear children, to thy 
dear parents and their family, to all our friends as though 

named, in thy freedom. I can truly Bay 1 love all who 



L848.] tiim.m i 01 ld. 298 

e the unchangeable truth. Farewell. From thy at- 
tached friend, 

Princi I Gardner. 



From T. B. (!. to John L. Kits. 

NewtobTj 3d mo. iTtlu 1848. 
My dbar Friend : 

Thy Inter was duly received, and we were truly glad to 
hear from thee, although the remembrance of thee and of 
thy timely visit had not passed away. We have often re- 
curred to it. as one of the pleasant things permitted for 
our encouragement, in the course of our solitary pilgrimage 
through a wilderness country, where but few travellers are 
met with who are willing to pursue the same course, and 

to give US the light hand of fellowship. 

Thou mayst suppose that I have been unmindful of thy 
request, to give thee an account of James Scribbens; but 

notwithstanding the delay, it has not been forgotten; al- 
though, being compelled to rely upon tradition, after taking 
some pains. 1 find myself wholly unable to tell thee even 
where he was born, or when he died. The anecdotes which 
I have heard of him, were chiefly related to me by several 
worthy Friends, since deceased, and independently of each 
other, hut all substantially agreeing : That he was a man 
of very small natural talents indeed, not having common 
sense, or being capable of procuring his own livelihood, or 
even of knowing when he had eaten or drunken suffi- 
ciently : but that he had a very striking, convincing, and 
remarkable gift in the ministry conferred upon him, under 
the exercise of which it was no unusual occurrence for him 
to bring tears from the eyes of the audience, to such a 
spree, that there would be wet spots upon the floor be- 
tween the benches on which the people sat; although, on 
his first rising, his appearance was so contemptible, and 
his matter so incoherent, and sometimes [apparently] so 
nonsensical, that it produced laughter among those 4 who 
were assembled. But the old man would pull the cap 
which he wore upon his head, one way and another, and 
say to such as made themselves merry, " My good Master 



294 LIFE AM' LETTERS OF [1848, 

has not come yet. When Be does come, you will laugh 
on the other Bide of your mouths !" — which was generally 
verified, as the Life and Power arose into dominion; the 
lellency of the Power being n I more fully appa- 

rent, by the manifest weakness of the instrument made 
use of, thai no flesh should glory in the Master's presence. 
Abigail Robinson (Mary R. Morton's Bister), a very supe- 
rior woman, and an excellent minister, who lived and died 
in this town, told me, many years ago, thai when Jan 
Scribbens had a concern to travel as a minister, Peter 
Davis (of whom Joseph Oxley makes honorable mention in 
his Journal, and who, by the way, was John Wilbur's 
grandfather), generally, if not always, went with him, to 
take care of him; for, Bhe added, he was not capable of 
taking care of himself out of meeting. And I have heard 
J. Wilbur say, that his grandfather Davis found it par- 
ticularly necessary to watch over him at the table, it being 
customary in those days to put eider and other strong 
drink upon it ; and when James took up the tankard, 
Peter would say, "Take care, James; that's strong cider/' 
When they came to Newport, to attend the yearly meet- 
in-'. A. Robinson informed me, they were wont to lodge at 
the house of her maternal grandparents, Thomas and Mary 
Richardson, which, as 1 am passing, I will say was at that 
time the house for Friends of note to lodge at : T. and ML 
Richardson being truly honorable elders; and he was for 
a long time Clerk of the yearly meeting. Their house 
was thronged with company of the best and most discern- 
ing kind. Yet it had been handed down from them to 
Abigail Robinson, that (I think on more than one occa- 
sion) after dames had been powerfully engaged in testi- 
mony in the 1 large public meetings during yearly meeting 
week, on returning to his lodgings, before a room lull of 
company, he boasted that he preached, and thai he 

preached excellently. tOO. " No, James," said Mary 

Richardson, '-thou art greatly mistaken: thou hast not 
preached this day.' 1 — Why, he was sure he bad, and that 
he did it well. — "No, James, it was thy Gfrtft that 
preached,' 1 said Mary Richardson. 

On one occasion of his being in Newport, I think, it so 



1- 18.] THOMAS I I !•. 

ha] ■ ; alone, 

by an envious priest, who w ire of 

I challenged him to a public di ipute in 
relation to Friends' principles and doctrines, which he 
readily accepted. A time and place were fixed, upon the 
spot, and James ran home to his lodgings, and reported it 
to his friends; who, not a little alarmed at the intelligence, 
told him it would never do; that the priest was a man of 
md learning, and would certainly get an advanto 
r him, and that he mui bis o% n infirmiti 

and the honor of Truth. But James was inflexible, and 
quit ident of bucc< 98 ; 3aid that he had accepted the 

challenge, and it would be dishonorable to flinch : and not 
only bo, but that u ] od Master would Btand by him, 

and Bupport His own caug Friends finally yielded, and 
bore liim company, and. in the language of my informant, 
he came oil' "entirely notorious I think I had this 
from John Wilbur. 

James Scribbena belonged to South Kingston Monthly 
Meeting, and lived sometimes with one Friend, and some- 
times with another, in different parts of the Narragansett 
country. JI<- was usually employed in some way which 
did not require much skill or thought; and at one til 
while residing in the family of a Friend who lived near 
one Doctor MacSparran (an Episcopalian missionary, who 
was Bent over from England by u The Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Pan-.*' and settled 
in Narragansett, in 17-7. I think, and ap] to have 

been a learned and eloquent man), and being engaged in 
repairing a breach in a stone wall (or fence), by the road- 

e, the Doctor, who entertained a most contemptible 
opinion of the Quakers in general, and of James Scribbens 
in particular, in passing by on horseback, reined up his 
horse, and thus accosted him: "Well, James, how many 
ton- of pudding and milk will it take, to make forty rods 

hen I was a child, and before one of these aneedot* elated 

to me, or I had otherwise heard his name, I frequently heard | 
who -we re not connected with Friends, use the proverb, "Afl weak as 

Scribbens." I have no doubt it had relation to him. I have also heard 
ee that time. It is a common saving here. 



296 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1848. 

of stone wall?' 1 Whereupon James dropped the stone 
which he 1 i * 1 < 1 in his hand, and looking at the self-suffi- 
cient Doctor, said. " Just as many as it will take, of hire- 
ling priests, to make a Gospel minister !" 

.... It so happened, that a man of note and learn- 
ing, whose name L have forgotten, although I think lie 
was a lawyer and a statesman, and eminent iii both re- 
Bpects, attended a, meeting in which James Scribbens 
preached; and was so affected by what lie heard, that at 
the close of the meeting, he requested some Friend with 
whom he was acquainted, to introduce him to the speaker; 
commending the sermon in strong terms, and remarking 
that so great a preacher must be a very sensible and 
learned man, and that he wished to have some religious 
conversation with him, and to ask him some questions. 
The Friend (whose name I have also forgotten), endea- 
vored to divert him from his purpose, by explaining the 
nature of our principles with regard to the ministry ; that 
it was neither natural nor acquired abilities, but the recep- 
tion of a heavenly gift, and the renewed extension of 
Divine favor, which rendered the labors of our ministers 
so weighty and powerful: that they were not however 
always alike favored; that this gift was sometimes be- 
stowed in a remarkable manner, not only upon illiterate 
men, but upon those of small natural understanding ; so 
that if he were introduced to such in private, after wit- 
nessing their public services, he would be at once sur- 
prised and disappointed. It was difficult to put the 
inquirer by ; but the Friend at length succeeded, telling 
him withal that J. S. would probably attend a meeting at 
another place the next day, I think. To that meeting, 
however, the interested man followed James Scribbens; 
who was again engaged in testimony, in such a way as to 
increase the desire he felt to be introduced to and converse 
with him; of which 'lie failed not to inform the Friend, 
who had invited him to attend it, and who found it still 
more difficult at this time to prevent their coming in con- 
tact with each other, than before. Hut he finally suc- 
ceeded, and also gave similar information of another meet- 
ing at some distance, to which J. Scribbens was bound. 



1848, ] thom is ' u>. 297 

This meeting proved to be a time of more eminenl favor 
than either of tfa rs; and al the close of it a detei 

nation was manifested to converse with James, which the 
Friend could no longer resist. He accordingly introduced 
the parties to each other al another Friend's house (where 
I think they all dined): but the man whose feelings had 
been so wrought upon, and whose expectations had been 
raised to Buch a height, manifested his surprise and disap- 
pointment, upon attempting to enter into religious con- 
versation with J. S., by exclaiming to the Friend who had 
d«>ne his best to prevent it. •• He is a fool !" — and instead 
of putting difficult theological questions to this weak but 
sometimes highly favored instrument, for solution, he sim- 
ply asked him the meaning of some ordinary words in the 
English language; to which James with great simplicity 
replied, that he did not know. — "But," said the inquirer, 
"you ma.de use of those word- in your preaching today." 
— " Very well," said J. Scribbens, "I knew then .'" In 
the conclusion, this man confessed that he had read many 
books upon the subject, but that his acquaintance with 
James Scribbens had furnished the most conclusive evi- 
dence of the truth of the Quaker doctrine of divine imme- 
diate revelation, that he had ever met with. 

It is said, there is but a step from the sublime to the 
ridiculous ; and so it is related of James Scribbens, 
that while riding in the woods, he was sorely affliated with 
toothache ; and verily thinking he should not live, he dis- 
mounted, tied his horse to one tree, and lay down under 
another to die. Directly it occurred to him, that if he 
should die there, people would say that he died drunk, 
and what a reproach it would be ! So he got up, and 
with a piece of chalk which he took from his pocket, Avrotc 
upon the tree, "James Scribbens died with the tooth- 
iiehe," — and lay down again to die. By-and-bye his tooth 
ame easier ; he mounted his horse and rode off, leaving 
the notice of his death, and the cause of it, plainly in- 
scribed upon the tree. 

Xow, although I have, in a bungling way, and without 
regard to order and method, put down the chief of what I 
have heard respecting J. S., yet I want thee distinctly to 



N 



298 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1848. 

understand, that even if thou should think it worth while 
to print any part of it, I shall expect thee to put it into 
better shape than this for the press. The last anecdote, and 
several other particulars, I have merely noticed, to give 
thee as full an idea of the man as I well could, with the 
scanty materials at command. I intended to have written 
to John Wilbur for information respecting him, but owing 
to my many engagements, have omitted it, until it was too 
late, if thou get this in any reasonable time. I should 
think lie would be as likely to know about him as any- 
body now living, if not more so. Christopher Jlealy once 
lived in the same neighborhood, and may probably have 

some knowledge of him 

Fourth mo., 2<L — I am just in that nervous, depressed 
state of mind, that I seem ready to doubt of "any good;" 
and almost everything — even those comparable to grass- 
hoppers — have become burdensome. Not but that I am 
still truly glad to receive letters from my friends, and the 
reading of thine again, yesterday, was momentarily re- 
freshing, in the feeling of life and Gospel fellowship in 
which ii was evidently written. But it has not dissipated 
the gloom with which I am surrounded, almost over- 
whelmed, so that I had almost come to the conclusion to 
write no more letters ; hoping thus to escape the commis- 
sion of some folly; which I am quite sure I should com- 
mit, were I either to undertake to set forth by number 
the clouds which appear in the horizon, according to my 
apprehension, or to frame an image of the good things of 
which thou speakest, and of which, I doubt not thou wast 
authorized to speak. To one who can feel for those who 
are in bonds, as bound with them, — to a member of that 
body in which, if one member Suffers, all the living mem- 
bers suffer with it, — what I have written will he sufficient, 
if not too much. And so, with unfeigned love to thee, 
and a sincere desire to be remembered for good, in the near- 
est approaches of all saints to the Lord, 

I conclude, and am thy friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



1850. ] THOMAS B. GOULD. 

To William Hodgson, 

Ei 26th of ninth month, 1850, 

My dsab Friend, William Hodgson, Jr.: 

[f 1 should undertake to teach thee, as Job's 
rters did him, how to conduct thyself under afflicti 
thou might justly reply to me as he did to one of them: 
** Lo, mine eve hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and 
understood it." Still I cannot doubt thou hast very close 
trials and exercises to pass through, by the permission, if 
not in the ordering, of Him "Who setteth the solitary in 
families/ 1 and who hath unquestionably clothed some with 
the Bpirit of mourning and lamentation, and made them 
Bkilful therein. And surely the day in which we live calls 
for it; for it is a day of treading down and perplexity, 
wherein the wayfaring man ceaseth, and many of the 
standard-bearers have fainted: even sueh as seemed strong 
for the work ; but they have seen that "rest is good, ami 
the land that it is pleasant;" and so they have deserted 
the standard of truth, and bowed their shoulders to bear 
another yoke than the cross of Christ, and so become ser- 
vants unto him wdio always was an enemy thereto. 

In times of great trial and difficulty, when some of those 
upon whom we had been accustomed in some sort to lean, 
(or of whom we had expected that they would lead forward 
in the work of rebuilding the wall which has been broken 
down, or in setting up the gates of that city, which have 
been burnt as with fire,) have been removed by death, and 
taken from the evil to come, and others have been wounded 
by the archers in the enemy's camp, and have fainted and 
fallen on the right hand and on the left ; how much harder 
work it makes for such as are left, for those who dare not 
desert their posts and flinch in the day of battle, because 
they prefer the welfare of Jerusalem and the prosperity of 
Zion above their chiefest joy. And thus it frequently 
happens that such as did consider themselves in the rear, 
are constrained to move forward and to stand in the breach, 
although by so doing for Zion's sake, they are still more 
exposed, as a mark for every archer. Neither can, these 
lay down their defensive weapons, put off their clothes, or 



LOT LETT: 

v will 

I to th< . 

_ 

| 

s 

S 
_ - 
I lay in Zion. for a i 

t whos 
make .found 

- 

eh. But tl 
- 
5 their giving iem 

d them i 
stores . to lie down I 

:ill wal an hir. 

:u afraid. He will 

- : II will hi th< 

ga will I 1 not : them, saith the 

Suffer, I rord 

me 
m or through a mean instrmn nd a weak broth 

* which thou hast, 

who has 1 u with 

r thee from th :ith 

.ithfui don t 

cause through ;; lid run 

3 

hich w 

v would c 

that 
man and with 

lu- 



I860.] tii 

mind, is, 1 • •■ Penii ! jusi I 

n. but n i Bal 3 loi althoi 

of Bound wor ntend, 

in i i way and ti >und «i 

al& '• r of the ! 1; but 

it may be detected by those in wh< int- 

ideth, ] q ii denietb the power thereof. And 

from Buch we have aj authority for turning ;iv. 

for coming out from among them and being Beparate from 
them ; an not the gracious prom 

i. saitb the Lord ':" 
I I ad no e ation of • L r thus when I commenced, 

and it will doubt em Btri that I haye \ bus 

itten ; : things ha ted to my mi 

under a :"■ of much sympathy and near unity v 

. under Borne Bense of th< of 

things among you, J have put them down in gi om, 

and L'T'-a* fidence in thy discretion, the recep- 

: or rej i of. And it' it ma; con- 

vince thee how glad I should hai to have communed 

a little with thee, hen thou wast here, ")• be 

of the least encouragement t<> thee, when thou walkesl by 
the way and r I do beli lording to 

Bmall i e, I have had bo tperimental knowle< 

of similar trii which have fallen, and 

may yet fall, to thy lot), my object in writing will he, at 
least in . Ami bo, with the salutation 

J remain thy affi 

Ti: B. Gould. 



To Charles Peri 

b of 3d mo., l B52. 

My dear Friend : 

Thine of i' h inst. was duly and from that 

time t<» the ]. . J h;r. i :<'ll thee how 

truly acceptable and deeply inte ie and 

my dear M. We had heard nothing of our d 



LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1852. 

friend J. Wilbur's getting along, except his arrival at New 
Hope (\ think it was), and of his expecting to attend 

Duck- Quarter the next day 

What the result of this visit may be, I suppose the 
wisest amongst as, or even among them, can scarcely 
foresee: km ..!' tin- weakest and hindermost of the 
flock, like myself, may possibly be permitted to hazard the 
expression of a belief, that our dear aged friend's head will 
continue to be covered in the day of battle, and that He, 
who hath evidently called him forth and gone before him, 
will " deliver him from the people and from the Gentiles :" 
inasmuch as it is evident, that they are not all Israelites who 
have keen accounted such, or who still doubtless consider 
themselves "masters in Israel." How strange and unac- 
countable it seems, that poor should have keen 

apparently so ready to go on his errand, and so prompt to 
deliver his message at Damascus! For I suppose there is 
little room to doubt, that he was sent by authority of the 
chief priests and rulers of the synagogue. But if the ut- 
most stretch of that popular (shall I use the expression?) 
Christian virtue, charity, will not admit of the supposition 
that he did it ignorant ly, yet is it not possible that even 
one who has been as eminently favored as he has doubtless 
been, may. by letting in the reasoner, and adopting the 
doctrine of expediency, become so blinded as to think that 
he was doing the truth a service? 

Notwithstanding, BO far as thou hast informed me, there 
ms to have been, considering all the circumstances, a 
remarkably "open door" set before our dear friend, yet I 
cannot doubt but he lias also been "in deaths oft;" for it 
is an awful thing " to be baptized for the dead :" and I am 
ready to Bay, -till more so, to have to stand, as it were, 
between the living and the dead : and if I am not mistaken 

in my own feelings in regard to the nature ok his servii 

it ha- keen somewhat in this line. Oh! may the plague 

be stayed! He is almost constantly in my mind. I have 

thought ok writing to him, just to let him know that much ; 
km really am so xcvx poor a- t<» feel myself unable, totally 
unable and unworthy even to hand a cup of cold water in 
the name of a di-ciple. J)ut 1 do nevertheless BtlU love 



_\ I T1M.M \s B. GOULD. 

the brethren ; and when thou art writing, if ii be not too 
much trouble* thou mi him know thai 1 love the 

fathers and the elders also. And when thou sees! thai 
mother in Israel, his wife, whom I have ever loved 
cerely, and desired to honor in the truth, do please tell 
her, it' thou judgesl it meel for me to Bay so, thai I have 
thought much of her in her loneliness, and under her por- 
tion of the burden of this weighty and (is it no1 ?) rather 
peculiar work and Bervice; and that I have fell for her 
too, according t<» my -mall measure; jusl querying of her 
withal, whether David's men. who staved by the stuff, did 
i the spoil with those who went forth to battle? 
lint I did nol expect to have run on thus when L com- 
menced, or to have written many line-, being also pressed 
for time. Thou must, dear Charles, excuse the haste, cVc, 
and BO I conclude, with dear love to thee and thine, and 
the rest of our dear friends there, as if named. 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To William Hodgson. 

Elmside, Newport, 15th of 4th month, 1S.V2. 

My dear Friend, 'William Hodgson, Jr. : 

It may seem strange that I should inflict one 

of my poor scrawls upon thee, just at the commencement of 
your yearly meeting, when thy time and attention will no 
doubt be fully and more profitably employed. And yet it 
did seem right, even for me, to send thee a salutation of 
love, and to bid thee "good speed" and "good cheer" just 
at this time. 

Is there not such a scripture as this : " Go thy way, cat 
thy bread with gladness, and drink thy wine with a merry 
heart, for now thy work is accepted ?" I may not quote 
it correctly, for it is long since I have read it, or even 
thought of it, till since I have been writing these last few 
lines. But really, my dear friend, is there not cause for 
thee, and perhaps others, to be encouraged ? I am not 
indeed looking for or expecting great things (and hope I 
shall not be so understood), or for any great and remarkable 



304 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18 

change to take place immediately; although it may 

all things are possible with Him whose power is omni- 
potent, and whose name is Wonderful; and we kno*w that 
He can, if He pleases, change the hearts of the children 
of men, as a man changes the water-course in his field; 
and will He not overturn, overturn, overturn, until He 
comes to reign, whose only right it is to reign in His 
Church and anion-- His professing people? Yea. and is 
it no1 manifest that He hath arisen already, and com- 
menced the work, going, as of old, before His disciples 
into GaliL 

.... I cannot doubt that the company and .services 
of our dear aged friend, John Wilbur, have been truly 
acceptable and encouraging to thee and many more; while 
to many among you who do not pass for Gurneyites, I 
suppose the fact of his being there has produced similar 
sensations to what those unsound professors formerly ex- 
perienced, when they were wont to exclaim, upon the arri- 
val of G. Fox amongst them, " The man in leather breeches 
has come !" I think no one could have gone thither, whose 
visit would have been less acceptable to such as these, or 
so difficult for them to escape from the effects of it; nor bo 
likely to be really and extensively useful in the promotion 
of the great and good cause which even these still prof 
to have in view and at heart; although the singleness and 
uprightness of their purposes, and the usefulness and ac- 
ceptability of their services, seem to be rendered exceed- 
ingly doubtful, by the continual "bleating of sheep, and 
lowing of oxen," and an evident intention of saving the 
besl of these, with the king, alive, however great the 
necessity, or positive the injunction, utterly to destroy 
Amalck. Well, those things which oppose and resist the 
progress of this people, and hinder them from following 
their Leader, and supporting, in their ancient purity, the 
doctrines of the I Jo-pel. and the testimonies of truth, which 
have been given us to bear, will continue to oppose and 
resist, as they did Israel of old, until they are overcome 

and removed OUl of the way. And when we shall have 

been emptied from vessel to vessel, and sifted as from sieve 

to siei as to be brought OUt of the mixtures, where- 



2. ] THOMAS i:. GOl LD. 

with even Ephraim hath mixed and is mixing I 

the people, until he hath lost his Btrength, althoi 
he seemeth not to know it : then, may we not hope tl 
as a people, in some places at Least, there may be a re- 

;il of strength, and of a degree of ancient zeal for the 

d's honor, and that the truth may again prosper, and 
Bhine forth with its wonted brightness? But with regard 
to some, who appear to have Badly failed, and stopped 

it of the mark, turning back in the day of battle, al- 
though they had been eminently favored and eminently 
useful, apparently, having been manifestly preferred to 
Manasseh, art thou not often ready to adopt, in relation 
to them, the mournful language, "How shall I give thee 
, 0! Bphraim? how shall I deliver thee, ! Israel? How 
Bnal] I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Ze- 

a*:" I cannot doubt that thou art often greatly dis- 

I for Buch as these, and that thy soul is in bitterness 

on their account, as for thy first-born. But the measure 

suffering must be filled up; and it is required of some, 
not only to stand in jeopardy every hour, but in the gap 

. as a mark for every archer, while they are deserted 
by many who have stood for a time exceedingly near. To 
witness the desertion and the fall of these, and to be bap- 
tized for them, is very close, hard work, sufficiently so to 
make us of all men most miserable, if it were not for the 
consolations of the Gospel communicated, with the pro- 
mise. I will stand by thee and deliver thee; I will never 
thee, nor forsake thee. Be thou faithful unto death, 
and I will give thee a crown of life ! And is there not also 

solation in the belief, that He who hath promised, is 
able to raise those up also who may have fallen, to heal 
those who have been wounded, and even to breathe again 
upon, re-animate, and bring together, such as have been 
scattered hither and thither, and become exceeding dry, 
like the dry bones of the valley; causing them again to 
stand upon their feet firmly, and even to fight His battles? 
I may acknowledge, perhaps, with safety and in confidence 
to thee, that, even at this distance, and without having 
ever stood, like thyself, in very close connection with some 
among you, whom I have nevertheless "e.-teemed very 

26* 



306 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18-" 

highly in love for the work's sake," my spirit has been 
often, and is, clothed with mourning for them, earnestly 
if it be possible, thai they may be induced to 
ie down, that they may be made willing to be of as 
little account aa the truth is, and to continue to follow in 
the footsteps of tic flock of the companions of Christ, let 
who will turn aside, and although Buch as were accounted 
members of Israel, and of the family, should be lacking 
in their tribes, having chosen to remain in Egypt, "where 
also our Lord is crucified." When I have considered how 
valiant some of these were in contending for the faith, and 
how much better they seemed qualified for it than any of 
us (only excepting that able and veteran soldier, J. W.), 
and moreover, that like the men of Ephraim formerly, 
they Beemed almost ready to chide with us if they were 
not called to the battle, and placed in the forefront of it 
too, — which place, for one, I have ever been more than 
willing they should occupy, having always esteemed " the 
gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim/' in a certain sense, as 
being u better than the vintage of Abi-ezer" — when I have 
considered these things, it hat med not only very sad, 
but very Btrange and unnatural alsp, that there should be 
any cause to fear that David's description of the death of 
Abner might in any event be applied .justly to any of them. 
And yel it does not seem probable, though their hands are 
not bound, nor their feet put into fetters, that they will be 
Blain while fighting the Lord's battles, in whose victorious 
army they were wont to be ranked among the "first three 
mighty men." But how true it is, that the race is not 
always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; nor 
durable riches and righteousness to men of great natural 
understanding, or even of uncommon spiritual gifts and 
large experience of thi and mercy of the Lord 

in the land of the living; unless there is an abiding in 
humility and in the Vine of life ! How ninny .-tars, appa- 
rently of the first magnitude, the dragon seems to have 
obtained power, nearly or quite to sweep down in these 
days, and in this time of times upon which we have fallen; 
wherein it doc- seem as if everything that can be shaken 
or removed, would be shaken and moved out of the way; 



■J. I THOMAS B. QOULD. 

not tli*' earth only, but heaven also; that that which can- 
not be shaken may remain; even the ne^ heaven and the 
in w earth, wherein righteousne - shall dwell! For 1 do 
believe that there are those now living, who will afresh 
ive the injunction, i" u be glad and rejoice forever in 
that which I create;" forasmuch as He whose promises are 
unfailing will, in His own due tinou Jerusalem a 

rejoicing, and her people a joy." 

Thou wilt not, 1 trust, suppose that I have had any- 
thing in view, more than what is included in, or conveyed 
by the declaration, that "they who feared the Lord spake 
often one unto another ;" and however thou may receive 
this il writing, it ha£ done under a sense 

of much weakness, and in fear. 

I Bhall feel quite anxious to hear how J. W. fares next 
week ; as also how you are getting along with the committees 
apart for your especial benefit and restoration to the 
body of modified Quakerism ; which at best is but as cank- 
ered gold, or as wine mixed with water, in comparison 
with ancient Quakerism, with primitive and vital Chris- 
tianity 

It is late, and I must bid thee farewell ; although I feel 
almost reluctant to part with thee even so; for thou hast 
n brought very near. 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To Peleg Mitchell. 

Newport, 18th of 5th mo./ 1852. 

My dear Friend : 

At Greenwich, in the public quarterly meeting was 

largely opened, upon the nature and qualification for the 
performance of true worship under the Gospel dispensa- 
tion. He was lively and skilful in administering and di- 
viding " the word of the truth of the Gospel ;" showi 
with clearness and effect, how, as individuals and meetii 
are gathered to that spirit, and truth, and power, in whi 
alone true and acceptable worship can be performed, all 
forward spirits and unsanctified offerings would be kept 
down, and that would rise into dominion and prevail over 



LI] !■: AND LETTERS OF [1£ 

all, which remains to be the crown of glory and diadem of 

auty in every rightly gath< jsembly. As 1 sal he- 

Bide him, and 1 with admiration and joy at the 

excellence of the gift, not wholly without feelings of 
thankfuln the divine Author and heavenly Giver 

reofj I could not repress the fervent though secret p< 
tion : that neither one thing nor another might be permitted 

tarnish its lustre, that the gold might not become dim, 
nor the most fine gold changed !* 

1 must conclude, with dear love to thee and thine, in 
which my dear M. unit* , 

Thomas B. Gould. 

To Martha S. Gould. 

New Bedford, 10th month, 11th, 1S52. 

My dear Martha : 

.... The kindness of Friends everywhere could not 
needed : and I have also got along in other re 

my humbling admiration, and even to my astonishment : 

doctrines of the Gospel, and the mysteries of the 

kingdom, having never been so largely opened to me 

or through me before. Dear cousin Francis Taber is wvy 

ble, and was, before he went to Nantucket : but he told 
me after the select meeting last fourth-day, that he felt 
better, adding emphatically, "for it has been a good meet- 
And it was bo, Indeed, and a truly remarkable one, 
of which, dear Mary Macey, Mary Davis, and others, bore 
public testimony in the meeting. On sixth-day evening, I 
had an appointed meeting at Siasconset: the house ¥ 
filled, and the people were remarkably attentive and quiet 

throughout 

On first-day, the afternoon meeting was put off till four 

nek. Public notice was given, and the house was very 

rly tilled. The morning meeting was no1 a small one. 
And in the evening a meeting of the colored population, 

no of their own meeting-houses, which was tilled, and 

*The secret impression of danger implied above, as prompting the 
petition in the mind of T. 1> <■.. tor the of this individual, was 

iwfully verified i afterwar 



_\ ] THOM IB B. GOl LD. 

was to the sal iod of Friends al least. The onlj re- 

ining aative Indian left upon the island [Nantucket] 
happened also to be, or was present; of which, when I 

it, I was glad, li was an interesting meetii 
In the midst of a large opening d'^v me), I fell a full stop 
and sal down, though not apparently so abruptly as to 

particularly noticed; whereupon dear C arose, and 

had a lively and striking testimony, in harmony with my 

own feelings. Dear followed him, af hich L 

was favored in a few words to obtain relief, and the m< 

ing closed, in as hard a rain and as dark a night. I reckon, 

dear Mary Barnard and Sarah Paddack, and 
Thaddeus and Eliza Coffin were out in; for we literally 

led home, through Band and water, and they seemed 
almost like quicksands to, me, when I thought of the 
women, and the first two especially. We had an exceed- 
ingly rough passage, the fir§t half of it, today. . . . 

1 expect to have an appointed meeting at Fair Haven, 
the village opposite to this place, to-morrow evening ; to 
attend Dartmouth meeting on fourth-day morning, and an 
appointed meeting at Padanaram in the evening ; North 
Dartmouth meeting on fifth-day; an appointed meeting 
in Slocum's Neck fifth-day evening or sixth-day; possibly 
one at the head of>Westport River on seventh-day, and 
probably both meetings at this place on first-day next; to 
go to Fall River on second-day, and to return home the 
same evening 

Know assuredly that I am thine affectionately, 

T. B. Gould. 



310 LIFE AND LETTEBS OF [1( 



C 11 A PTEB V 1. 



On the 7th day of eleventh month, 1852, Thomas B. 
Gould attended a public meeting for divine worship in 
Friends 1 meeting-house near Little Oompton, a village on 
tlic eastern passage into Narragansett Bay. An indi- 
vidual present, not a member of the Society of Friends, 
attempted to take down in writing what was delivered by 
Thomas on that occasion : probably not being then aware 
of the strong objections held by the speaker, in common 
with Friends generally, against the practice of writing 
down, in a religious meeting, communications of that 
kind. This person afterwards sent a transcript of it to 
the Friend who had accompanied Thomas to the meeting, 
and the following copy is believed to be substantially 
correct, as far as it goes. It may safely be inserted in 
these pages (since the decease of the speaker), as afford- 
an interesting and instructive view of his doctrine and 
expression in preaching the Gospel; and without any in- 
tention of introducing, or sanctioning, the practice of pub- 
lishing the communications of our ministers, in a general 
way. 

After Bitting for some time in silent waiting on the 
Lord, he i and declared as follows : % * I believe that 

it is quite possible for men and women, while they con- 
tinue to observe forms which have been abrogated, to aim 
sincerely at the substance; and also, that it is equally 
pos -i 1 le for those who reject the use of forms, to fail of 
to an experimental knowledge of the substance ; 
and y<t it is exceedingly important that all men and all 

Women Should he really and truly qualified and prepared 

t«> worship and serve Him who created them, and who not 



1852. ) Tlh-V tfi p.. ,;,■! [ D. 81 I 

only cr them, bul created them for the vn-v purp< 

of worshi] ing, and glori 

nd, hath not 
ujK.n His rational, accountable creation, the mea 
lining to the knowledge of Hi*. ' the v. 

I the manner in which we should come before the 
d, and bow ourselves before the mosl high God, in 
li a manner as will find acceptance with Him who has 
d declared to be the God of knowledge, and thai by 
Him the actions of all creatures are weighed in the <• 
scales of divine justice, of divine wisdom, of divine know- 
ledge; and Hisjudgmenl is just, for just and true are all 
His ways. And yel it is or maybe matter, and should 
be matter of great encouragement to us, and of thankful- 
38 by us, that mercy still covers the judgment-seat, 
that God i> indeed merciful and long-suffering unto the 
children of men, and that, although they may pass a 
-•rear part of their lives in a state of lamentable forgetful- 
38 of Him, and want of right qualification to worship 
and serve Him; yet in His unutterable mercy and un- 
bounded love. He is not slack concerning His promise-. 
but is faithful toward us; not willing that any should 
perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of Him 
and of His truth, and so be prepared to worship and <vr\c 
Him in spirit and in truth, and finally be saved with an 
everlasting salvation. 

"I may acknowledge that my feelings, since taking my 
seat in this meeting, have been of a rather peculiar and 
truly exercising nature ; under a consideration, an hum- 
bling consideration of the great need there is amonir the 
children of men, of greater dedication of heart unto the 
Lord, of a more serious and earnest engagement of spirit, 
to know for ourselves, how we shall come before Him in 
the manner that will find acceptance with him ; for it is 
indeed our reasonable service. An experienced apoe 
made use of strikingly earnest and persuasive lang 
when he said, 'I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of 
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy 
and acceptable unto Him, which is your reasonable [ 
vice.' I may not quote the language precisely as it 
stands recorded in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testa- 



312 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1£ 

menl ; for it bo happens that I have not recently road the 
:<•: neither ha ! . all studied, or so much as con- 
sidered, what I Bhould Bay, or what I should -peak unto 
you, previously to my entering under this roof. For it is 
not in accordance with the principles which the Society of 
Friends hold and most assuredly believe in, to premeditate 
what they shall Bay, or what they Bhall speak, on such 
>ns as this; neither is it, or over was it. my prac- 
tice. I am not ashamed to acknowledge it ; nay, verily, 
but on the contrary, i'^v some reason or other, — I know 
not, neither am I curious to know, — I believe it to be in- 
cumbent upon me thus publicly to acknowledge it. It is 
not the practice of any authorized minister of this Society, 
when they assemble with their brethren for the purpose of 
performing worship unto God ; — it is not their practice to 
sit down in a meeting and consider what they shall speak 
unto the people; but rather, to turn their minds inward 
unto Him, unto that God who is a Spirit, and who is to he 
worshipped in spirit and in truth ; to get themselves unto 
the watch-tower in the secret of their own souls, and there 
to hearken what the Lord shall say unto them by the 
manifestation of His own Spirit and of llis own power: 
and not only so, hut what they Bhall answer when they 
are themselves reproved — for men and women, although 
they may have received a gift of the ministry from our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet they are men and 
women of like passions, and subject to like infirmities as 
others, and I have sometimes thought arc permitted to be 

ailed by greater temptation-. 

"And yet there are assuredly no idlers in the Lord's 
house, or amongst his people; and it is indeed a great mis- 
take for any t<> Buppose, when they assemble themselves 
together for the worship of God, that any man. however 
eminently gifted, can possibly he enabled to perform, for 
them, divine service, divine worship: but it does indeed 

, ('times, and it may frequently happen, that among such 

are gathered together for the worship of God, into a 

-taic of solemn, awful, reverential silence before Him, 

thai some one or other among these inward spiritual 

worshippers may be renewedly qualified and raised up to 



;. ] THOMAS B. GOULD. B18 

Bpea rord in due Beason unto such as are weary, to 

e forth a word of exhortation or reproof, accordi 
the Lord's Spirit shall give them utterance and qualify 
them so to do; and such an engagement may indeed be 
blessed both to Buch as are exercised in it, and to Buch as 
hear them. But it is no1 worship, merely to assemble 
jcther for no other purpose than to listen to the words 
of ministers. There m us t be a preparation in the hearts 
of those who hear oven the Gospel itself, or else we Bhall 
not be edified at all thereby. For we have the testimony 
and authority of the Holy Scriptures for declaring, that 
ept the word preached be mixed with faith in those 

who hear, it Bhall not profit the people. And faith is a 
heavenly gift. It is the gift of <iod. It is not a mere 
notion; it is not a mere assent of the understanding to the 

truths of the Gospel as they stand recorded in the Holy 
Scriptures; it is something beyond this, more excellent, 
more heavenly, and more powerful; for it was by faith 
that the elders obtained a good report, and if we are 
ever so happy as to obtain a good report, it will be by 
faith also. 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, 
and the evidence of things not seen.' 'And this,' said 
an experienced apostle, 'is the victory which overcometh 
the world, even our Taith.' Now that which can enable 
any man or any woman to overcome the world, must be 
something more than a wind of doctrine, something more 
than an assent of the understanding to certain principles 
and doctrines, however excellent. It must be something 
practical, inward, and powerful in its nature, which shall 
enable them to renounce the pomps and vanities of this 
wicked world. 

" Such was the nature of the saints' faith. They pos- 
sessed a living, efficacious faith, which was able to save their 
souls. It was a shield unto them, whereby they were 
preserved from the temptations and the snares with which 
he assailed them, even as he assaileth us. For who of us 
are free from the temptations and snares of the enemy ? 
Are we not some of us made experimentally certain, that 
the adversary goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom 
he may devour ; and not only so, but as a cunning, crafty 

27 



314 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1858. 

pent, seeking whom he may deceive, and whom lie may 
betray, whom he may induce to turn from the worship and 
service of that God who created them, unto the worship 
and service of the enemy, the adversary, the evil one* 
It remains an undeniable truth, thai his servants we arc 
unto whom we yield our members to obey. 

"It is in and by Jesus Christ alone, that we may find 
acceptance with Cod the Father, who is a pure and holy 
Spirit, and requireth pure offerings and sacrifices to be 
offered unto Him. Neither is there any other name or 
power given under heaven, whereby we can he qualified to 
offer acceptable offerings unto God the Father, but by and 
through the name of His only-begotten, well-beloved Son, 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. All divine worship 
and service is to be performed and offered up in His name 
and by His power ; for there is no such thing as salvation 
in any other, or acceptance with God the Father by any 
other. Men have sought to climb other ways into heaven, 
and to perform divine service in strength which came not 
by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but such have not 
therein found acceptance, such have offered an impure and 
unholy offering ; because they were not acquainted with 
the ministry of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, 
which the Lord hath pitched, and not man. They have 
offered in the time and the way which they have devised 
in their own hearts. They have warmed themselves at a 
lire of their own kindling, and lain down in sorrow at the 
end ; because there is none other than the fire of God's 
own altar which can enable us to worship God in spirit, 
and to have no confidence in the flesh. These are the true 
worshippers in the temple, whoever they are and wherever 
they are. If they are not yet completely redeemed from 
some observance of forms and ceremonies, yet are they 
the true worshippers in the temple, the living members of 
the church and body of Christ. These are all in some 
measure gathered unto that which is within the veil, 
whither Christ Jesus, our forerunner, hath entered. These 
arc made partakers of the hidden manna, which cometh 
down from heaven, and givcth life unto the world. These 
do not merely make a profession of performing divine ser- 



).} TH0MA8 B. Q0ULD. 815 

■ ; but they have known wha4 it is to sanctify the Lord 
in their hearts, and He has become their hope, and their 
aid, and their souls are bowed in awful reverence before 
Him, Baying, 'Lord, what will thou have me to do, and 
Imw shall I appear before thee, in order that I may re* 
ceive a little strength renewedlv from Thee? 1 Ami 
they are gathered into a Btate of silent, patient waiting 
upon Him. Their expectations are from Him, and from 
Him alone ; and Buch do at times and seasons joyfully ex- 
perience the truth of that Scripture, that * they that wait 
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. 1 They shall, 
and do, and arc enabled to renew their spiritual strength 
in and by Him, and by the assistance which He, of His 
goodness and mercy, is pleased to afford unto them, 
whether it be immediately or instrumentally communi- 
cated. For as God is a spirit, the soul of man is a spirit, 
and it doth not require the intervention of words, in order 
that He may communicate substantial good to our souls. 
He can cause us to hear His voice, even the voice of His 
only-begotten and well-beloved Son, although no words 
should be vocally and literally sounded in our ears. 

" What great encouragement there is then, for such as 
may be much removed from the opportunity of participa- 
ting in the many helps which arc provided in His church 
and amongst His people. They cannot be excluded from 
the instruction which comes from Him, or from the high 
and holy privilege of waiting upon Him and worshipping 
Him. Jacob worshipped, leaning upon the top of his 
staff, and we have no account that he had any company 
save the presence of that God whom he worshipped. Well 
now, if we are favored to feel and know something of His 
presence with us, something of instruction from Him how 
Ave shall worship and serve Him, then we may rest as- 
sured that we are in His house, even in the house of God, 
whether we have any other than a stone for our pillow, 
yea or nay. Remember how it was with the patriarch 
Jacob, when he saw the heavens opened, and a ladder 
which reached unto heaven, and angels of God ascending 
and descending thereon. Why, he said, ' This is none 
other than the house of God!' And that is none other 



81G LIFB AND LETTERS OF [1& 

than the house pf God, in which we are made sensible of 
His presence, of the manifestation of His Spirit and of 
His power : and it doth indeed become such as are so made 
sensible of it, to pul off their shoes from eft' their feet, for 
the place whereon they stand is indeed holy ground; and 
as they are thus prepared by the Lord Himself to stand 
in awful reverence before Him, He will open their ears to 
hear His voice, and will teach them and instruct them as 
man never taught or could teach them. They shall find 
their bouIs sustained by the bread of life, by the Word of 

Grod Himself. For it is declared, that man shall not live 

by bread alone, — that is. by outward, elementary bread, 
— but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of 
God and of the Lamb. And so they will joyfully and 
happily experience, as David did, that it is good for them, 
both patiently to wait and quietly to hope for their God ; 
and thus they shall renew their spiritual strength, so that 
they shall be enabled to run in the way of His divine and 
holy commandments without being weary, and to walk 
therein, even in the way of life and salvation, without 
fainting. 

" And Christ Himself, the Son and sent of God, is the 
way of life: * I am the way, the truth, and the life; no 
man cometh unto the Father but by Me.' And if any 
man attempt to climb up any other way, or offer up any 
sacrifices and offerings, except it be by and through Him, 
the great High Priest of our profession, by whom all offer- 
ings are to be offered up, such will not find acceptance; 
they will but offer the sacrifice of fools, considering not 
that they do evil when they pretend to draw nigh unto 
God, and to make mention of His glorious, holy name, 
while their hearts are far from Him! Oil! lie will be 
Sanctified in those that come nigh Him; and 'let him that 
nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity/ IS a 
divine injunction which will stand true to the end of time. 
Oh ! have we, some of us. ever been made justly sensible 
of the holine8S, the wisdom, the mercy, and the power of 
God? Most men. when they are brought, or about to he 
brought, into the presence of the great ones of this earth, 
the great men of this lower world, feel more or less of awe 
pervade their minds. Well now. He is King of kings, and 



.:. | THOMAS B. GOULD, 817 

Lord of lords, the blessed and only Potentate. Hia name 
is high and holy. It is above every other name that can 

jsibly be named, 'and His name is called the Word of 
I:' and He hath caused His name to be proclaimed 

ore Him, and at the name of God and of Christ, even 
at the name of Jesus, 'every knee shall bow, and every 
tongne confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
God the Father. 1 Oh! how serious, how solemn a thing 

it 18, for US to feel and know that we stand every moment 

in His presence ! And how necessary it is for us, that we 

should live and walk in His fear! For the fear of the 
L<»rd is the very beginning of wisdom, and to depart from 
evil is understanding: and if we are brought under a true 
sense of His fear, and sufficiently humbled before Him, 
lie will, I am persuaded, teach us of His ways, and how 
we may appear hefore Him. So that, if any lack wisdom 
as to this matter, if they lack wisdom as to how they shall 
appear before the Lord, and how themselves before the 
Most High God, let them ask of Him who giveth liberally 
and upbraideth not. Let them hearken unto Him, and He 
will instruct them, when they listen to the inspiring word 
of His own divine Spirit and power, as it is proclaimed in 
their souls ; and so they shall be livingly instructed in the 
way and the manner by which they shall be qualified and 
enabled to worship and serve Him with their spirits, in the 
I rospel of His Son." 

From T. B. G. to Charles Terry. 

Newport, third month, 30th, 1853. 

My dear Friend, C. Perry: 

I am not insensible how r forcibly, though 

briefly, thou hast commented upon the many remarkable 
passages and incidents of thy grandfather's letters and 
journey. But it is not just now, and has not been this 
long while, either a new moon or a Sabbath-day with me ; 
and yet I have not felt like venturing out to " gather 
sticks,'' or even like attempting to kindle a fire with such 
as I have on hand, however dry and combustible they may 
be. Still there seems to be need enough of fire, for it is a 

27* 



S18 LOT \M« LBTT1 - [l v 

I, wintrj a it artificial heat -rem- unlikely to 

do ain and the query often recurs, " Who shall -h 

For *■ 1 am i, and no man :" 1 am 

liki 1 man ' mind, or like a broken vessel : the 

chief, if not the only - the fi tinned 

f the Ioyi the brethren, and esj lly of the 
fathers ami the elders, the faithful, valiant, ami truly 
Me lal - in the great ami arduous field oi' the 

8t; although 1 do not feel worthy or able to 
them: ami yet, according to my small ability, 
I think I have travailed and sympathized with them, or 
f them, often sincerely desiring that He would he 
pleased t< se and qualify, and send forth more 

laborers into Hi- harvest : for such as are rightly qualified, 
and willing, and faithful, are indeed very few. While on 
the other hand, there are BO many busybodies, who have 
not tarried at Jerusalem until they were endued with power 
from on high; whose time is always ready, and who either 
run while there is a tumult, and consequently have no eer- 
d tidings, - «nng ;<> the wind, and reaping the whirl- 
wind: - : great Bwelling word- of vanity, prophesy- 
ing Falsely : the people all the while beii _ - bewitched 

with their - re Ties and enchantments, that they lore 

■ 

hai >, and therefore multiply their teachers kle 

their itching ears for them. 

All these things operate as a discouragement; and unless 
there is a double portion of faith, long experience, and I 
am ready to add, a threefold commission, how shall the 
query be Burmounted, ** Who is sufficient for these things 
who shall he aide to endure the perils which all must 
encounter, who venture out in these perilous times, times 
of peri] by -• a ami peril by land, and even greater than 
all th« tnbined, perils among false brethren? Oh! 

h<>w 1 d<> feel for him [J. W.]. in going again as into the 
very mouth of the lion 1 For it is mournfully evident that 
there is that which is of the same nature, even among 
those where, as 1 suppose, his lot is now cast (notwithstand- 
ing their professions ^i^ love, and unity, and harmony): in 
opposition to everything that has a tendency t<» rend the 
veil, and to make a distinetion and separation between the 



I 358. ) 'J ii' KM LO. 

precious and the file, between tli.it which is of the L 

:tn<l go in tin- « 1 i \ i 1 1 < * h:i riu< -ir. . and thai \shi<-h • of 

I I :i. and consequently in the enmif fu- 
sion, r «»i- lai manifested by sue! 

and over the number of his di which they sureb 

not obtained \\h<» take counsel of man, and und< 
nil.- by man's falh dom. Dm their ships may b<- 

broken :i- ;tt I i and the mouth - of the Ii"; 

I. For I he Lord ii -till able t<> -\<>\> tie- moui 
of linn-, and t<» quench the violence of fire, although it n 
burn n< • hemently or hiddenly ; and to bring forth 

such n- are faithful, unhurt by the ad without even 

the smell of the other upon them 

With lov< •• friend, 

T. i;. Gould. 



To William Hodgson. 

Xi 5th month, I 

My i>eak Friend : 

Thou hast h- i much and se often in my remem- 

brance for ;i month or two past, that I have been upon 
the point of writing to th< I again ; and I cer- 

tainly think I Bhould have don.- this, had I been in 

possession of as many and as large opportunities of leisure 

jome ]><•"])!<• 

It is probable thou hast heard, that the quarterly n 
ing united with the concern of our dear, aged, and devoted 
friend, J. Wilbur, and endorsed the certificate of South 
Kingstown Monthly Meeting, by which he was liberated 
(so far ;•- Friends there could do it) to pay a visit in 
pel love to Friends and others in <ire,«tt Britain and 
Ireland. . . . I doubt not, that there are many amoi 
von. and such too, as " seem to be," not only " somewhi 
but very wise in such matters, avIio have already come to a 
judgment, and decided against the rn, as not in the 

truth, or in the order of Society, or of the Gospel, if not 
.-I- being either childish, or wilful and presumptuous in 
him, and also as manifesting weakness and folly in th 



320 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [IS.".-". 

bodies who have officially sanctioned it. There is, how- 
ever, to me some cause for encouragement, when I am 
favored to Bee and to feel that different meetings of 

Friends, or even Bolitary individuals amongst them, have 
sanctified the Lord In their hearts, as to lei Him truly 
become their fear and their dread; in whose fear the 
beginning of true wisdom, as well as the increase and per- 
fection of it, and of holiness also, most surely is. For out 
of this fear, and without a degree of that holiness which 
can only he known and perfected therein, no man can e 
the Lord, or expect to receive a true answer from Him, 
however frequently, from his position or station in the 
professing church, he may seem called upon to judge of 
such important concerns as relate to His service and the 
affairs of His Church. What a dangerous snare "the 
fear of man'' often becometh, to those who are governed 
by no higher rule or criterion than man's fallen wisdom! 
How frequently they become entangled in the conse- 
quences and contingencies which they have vainly, if not 
presumptuously and of themselves, sought to avoid ; not 
seeing the end from the beginning with the eye of faith, 
which t lie Lord alone can open, and which He will not 
Suffer to "wax dim" while any continue to be pure in 
heart. 

Thou mayst well ask why I should write thus to thee. 
I can only say that it has come of my reflections or im- 
pressions of the state of things, I am ready to add, even 
with some of you. Yet I truly and comfortably, ami, as 
I think, upon good ground, hope better things of thee. 
even such as accompany salvation and deliverance From 
the wiles, and baits, and refined delusions, in which great 
men, and rich men, and wise men have been ensnared — 
yea, and women also, — who have received precious gifts 
and had long experience, attaining to such eminence 
and high stations in the church, as to have become unduly 
elated; and who love to bear rule over those whom they 
may consider of less note ami importance than themselves j 
but who, having l<opt their own habitations in the truth, 
and in the valley of humility, where the dew of heaven 
resteth long, the fatness and blessing of the earth also 



1 - "•:;.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 821 

whioh lieth under, has been given to them; and their bows 
hav( strength, and the arms of their hands hi 

d made8trong by the power of the mighty God of Jacob. 
But the dragon hath really been permitted to "sweep' 1 
others somewhal "down," although, through the power of 
his delusions, and their own Belf-sufficiency and self-confi- 
dence, they are not fully and rightly sensible of it ; yet 
the sweetness, the tenderness, and the true zeal and 
heavenly divine life are mostly gone; and in the room 
thereof another thing has conic up, merely in the image and 
likeness of thai which was and is divine, and ought to be 
ssed and owned, in whomsoever and wheresoever it 
may appear. And oh, what an abundance of creaturely 
activity this leads into, in one way or another! Bow 

•client and desirable it seems, to those who look only 
upon the surface ! What an abundance of love and devo- 
tion ! What zeal for the outward order! How careful 
to preserve the farm of godliness; and alas! how ready to 
ih ny the power and the //7c, when it seems likely to he set 
over the form and the letter ! 

New, whatever any may think of our dear friend J. W.'s 
concern, and however it may result, when it comes to be 
laid before our yearly meeting of ministers and elders ; I 
have no doubt, nor the shadow* of a doubt, that it has been 
right that he and Friends should be brought under it thus 
far. lie may indeed be released from it: the resignation 
of his mind to perform the visit, may be accepted instead 
of the deed. J5ut I think clearer ami stronger evidence 
of its being in the ordering of Divine Wisdom, than was 
afforded at the time of our quarterly meeting, could hardly 
be expected or desired in any similar case: and I should 
not be at all surprised if he be eventually liberated. . . . 

To Joshua Maule. 

2 Ith of sixth month, L853. 

. . . . lie [Francis Taber] is in a very declining 
state, and not likely to last long, with an affection of the 
heart and dropsy combined. I believe. But he. as well as 
my own dear mother, has lost none of his interest in the 



322 LIF! WD LETTERS OF [1858. 

cause; and although we greatly misled him during yearly 
meeting week, with other worthies who have been removed 
Bince you were here ; yet our meeting was, I believe, ae-j 
knowledged by all, to have been the largest held here 
Bince the separation, and I think not less satisfactory 
than any other. The children and young people, of 
whom there were Scarcely any present for several years, 
have grown in years and stature, and I hope, as regards 
Borne of them at least, in the truth also; yet 1 regret to 
Bay that many of them are not, either in appearance or in 
fact, as plain and consistent Friends as could be desired. 
Then again, although many of the elders have been re- 
moved and are removing, I think that others of a younger 
class have really deepened in the root of life, and con 
quently become more skilful in the management of the 
affairs of truth and of the Church. There were three 
sittings of the select yearly meeting, one more than 
usual, in consequence of the opening of our dear aged 
and devoted friend, J. W.'s weighty and important 
concern, and the preparation and approval of his cer- 
tificate 

The public meetings were large, and I think on the 
whole ended well and satisfactorily ; although there were 
some appearances in two of them, which added nothing to 
the weight, however much to the measure. In that on 
first-day morning, our dear friend, N. P., was largely 
opened and eminently favored In the after- 
noon, hut one voice was vocally heard, and that Friend 
was not very lengthy ; the rest of the time being spent in 
solemn silence; and although the earlier portion of the 
meeting was sufficiently exercising, yet truth rose into 
dominion, and crowned all in the end, as was believed by 
many Friends, as well as some others who were prepared 
to acknowledge it. On fifth-day, dear Mary Macey 
Opened the public meeting with the injunction, " Keep 
silence before me, oh, ye islands, and let the people re- 
new their strength ;" being largely, though not lengthily, 
hut closely and weightily engaged in a searching testimony 

against those things which stand opposed to an increase 

01 spiritual strength. Dear J. W. followed, in much the 



5. ] THOMAS r. GOULD. 

of labor; no! long : and Elisabeth Hill. \% 1 1 « » is 
:i sweet and lively minister, much deepened and enlarged 
in her L r it'i since you were here, followed him in an m <•<*« •] >- 
table and weighty manner. i Then, I am sorry to Bay, 
the ark of truth's testimony was twice considerably 
jostled, however unintentionally so, by inexperienced 
hands being unadvisedly set t<> it. Alter which there 
was an apparent necessity for the solemn injunction first 
uttered in that meeting to be again revived : and the at- 
tention of the people was recalled to that Power, which 

was and is aide to say, M Peace, be still," and to produce 

a inreat calm. The instructive circumstance of Simon's 
wife's mother lying sick of a fever, when the Master 
himself came and laid His soothing and cooling hand 
upon her. with the notable, strengthening, and calming 
effect immediately produced, even such that she arose 
and ministered unto those who were present, was also 
briefly adverted to f and the meeting ended solidly, and, 

I think, pretty well 

Farewell, in every way. 

Thomas B. Gould. 

To AVilliaxM Hodgson. 

Elmside, Newport, 7th mo., 20th, 1S53. 
My vjsby dear Friend, William Hodgson, Jr. : 

Poor, and stripped, and weak, and short- 
sighted as we are, and even likely, in some respects at 
least, to be still further stripped and weakened; yet we 
are, in great and unmerited mercy, sometimes helped and 
strengthened with a sight and sense of things which many 
prophets and wise men have desired to see, and have not 
seen them. So that we are a little encouraged and re- 
animated to hold on, and to press on, even to that which 
is not visible to any eye, save the inward eye, which the 
Lord opens and re-opens by the repeated application of 
the eye-salve of His kingdom. And oh ! what fulness 
there is in that heavenly expression, "My kingdom is not 

* Since deceased. 



824 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [185$ 

of this world ;" and what consolation all the patient suf- 
ferers for it will find, in the continued verification of this 

truth, lmwcvcr tribulated their way through this world 
may be ! How repeatedly, as their eves are kept single 

to the mark for the prize of their high and holy calling, 
will they be confirmed in the truth, " But now," — even 
now. in the midst of their afflictions, arising from the 
mixtures and impurities of such as are really striving to 
become heirs of both kingdoms, whatever their preten- 
sions, or even their hopes may he, — " But now is my 
kingdom not from hence !" Neither is it very remark- 
aide, that such as are preserved in singleness of heart 
and eye unto the Lord and His honor, and the coming 
and establishment of His kingdom, and that alone, in 
themselves and others, should be favored to see beyond 
others, whose eyes the god of this world hath really 
blinded, lamentably blinded, and in some cases, it is to 
be feared, not in part only ; although they may, with 
great self-complacency, account themselves much wiser in 
their generation than the children of light 

J. W. came here a week ago last sixth-day. and stayed 
the night at father's, and the day following I took him io 
Fall River. A very pleasant visit and precious time we 
had together; though he seemed, as it is natural he should 
be, much bowed under the weight of his prospect. . 

27th. Being at Fall River a week ago last first-day, 
and so far on my way, after meeting I rode over to New 
Bedford to see our dear friend, Francis Taber. Israel 
Buffinton went with me. He seemed overjoyed to see us, 
and rather more comfortable in body than we had expected 
to find him, though much changed since I saw him in the 
fourth month : but still clear as a hell in his understand- 
ing, lively and fervent in spirit, manifesting a continued 
and earnest engagement for the welfare and faithful main- 
tenance of the cause and testimony of truth. We felt 
well repaid for our ride in the dust and heat. 

What sad work they have made in England with poor 
L. M. II.! Neither does the Philadel- 
phia % * Friend" seem to hesitate copying from the " British 
Friend," that mixed account of the yearly meeting in 



1858.] THOMAS B. OOULD. 

idon, including (whatever else they may have eschewed), 
that part in which we arc spoken of as 3epa 

I ).» the managers of the American " Friend" wish 
their readers by degrees to become accustomed to hear as 
ken of in that opprobrious manner, and bo to be gradu- 
ally reconciled to it ': In this and similar ways, I do con- 
sider the good cause, which we have feebly endeavored to 
espouse, has been much injured, and the hands of our 
adversaries and the adversaries of truth greatly strength- 
ened : neither do they tail to sec it. and to take advantage 
of it, however reluctant any may be to have the real ten- 
dency, if not the design, of their conduct detected. . . . 
I remain as ever thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B. GrOULD. 



Draft of a Letter from T. 13. G. to Caleb Haworth. 

Elms id Ej Newport, 24th of 9th mo., 1853. 

My dear COUSIN, Caleb IIawortii: 

I have at times felt, and continue to feel not 

unfrequently, a good degree of that precious unity and fel- 
lowship with thee in spirit, which is beyond words or letter- : 
and which, while it is mercifully and preciously continued, 
precludes the idea of any change in those who are the sub- 
ject- or the objects of it, except such as is consistent with 
the truth, and that growth in the'same which must neces- 
sarily, in some good degree, be experienced by as many as 
do keep their habitations therein. But, my dear cousin, 
while I can in truth and sincerity address thee with full 
confidence in thy integrity, and steadfast abiding in the 
truth and in the faith: although I am and have been for a 
long time wholly destitute of any outward information or 
clue to thy standing whatever; yet I am not insensible to 
the changes, the great, if not the radical changes, which 
time and circumstances have manifested in ninny, who 
ined formerly to stand as firmly as thyself. In tin's 
respect, we of the " smaller body" in New England, con- 
tinue to have much to suffer, many and close trials of our 
faith and patience to pass through, beside those which are 
common to others, if I may be allowed the expression. 

28 



326 LIFE AND GETTERS OF [18^:!. 

For our situation is peculiar, and rery clearly distinguish- 
able, so that we seem to furnish a ready mark for every 
archer. And when those who, for a long time, stood with 
us fearlessly in the breach, desert their posts, and go over 
to the rank- of the enemy openly, or by directing their 
arrows secretly at us, endeavor to wound and weaken us, 
and really increase their ranks and strengthen their hands, 
it is verv discouraging, and causes close looking to the 
Foundation, and feeling after the cause; that we may 
know the one to sustain us. and be enabled to support the 
other according to the ability received, and to what may 
be required at our hands. However, I do not wish to be 
understood to say that any of our members here in New 
England have turned back, or given up the ground which 
we were compelled to take, at the time of the separation 
(for we did not make the division : our adversaries, and 
the adversaries of truth made it, and drove us into the 
position which we now occupy ; there being no alternative, 
unless we had proved derelict from our duty and our princi- 
ples) ; but there are many in other places, especially in Phila- 
delphia and Ohio, who, to save themselves trouble, and 
under the plausible delusion (as we believe), of keeping 
the outward order ami unity of the Society unbroken, are 
striving with all their own strength and the strength of 
their influential stations, to patch up and smooth over that 
which is wrong in the r<3ot, as well as in the branches and 
fruit; not appearing to care what becomes of the testi- 
mony, nor of such as have been made willing to part with 
all, reputation, and ease, and in some instances almost 
life itself, rather than to compromise that testimony. All 
this is repeatedly sacrificed by such as still claim to be 
the champions of sound doctrine, and to have no unity 
with innovations or innovators; though they tolerate, 
and wink at, and give more and more encouragement to 
both, while they increase the burdens, and augment the 
reproaches, of such as they themselves acknowledge to 

have Buffered faithfully in opposing the same. But, they 

Say, it is very important that Friends should continue a 
united body, and show an undivided front to the world: as 
if the niMlberS, who still meet in one house and constitute 



I 8 < •• | THOM \> r.. QOl CD. 827 

u eting, could gh e credit to our testimonies in 
the Bight of tin world ; which is quite keen enough to dis- 
that the harmony is interrupted, and the power in 
which Friends id and acted is very much I 

There are Borne of as in this country, and I doubt not 
ili- such with you, who go bowed down nnder a 

of these things, not knowing what will be the end of 
the inconsistencies and confusion of tongues, which appear 
and are heard in the camp. 

But of one thing I feel confident, that in the end it will 
be made manifest, that no good has been gained by Beeking 
to save that alive which has been and is appointed for de- 
uction ; although it maj be done under the specious pre- 
tence of offering it in sacrifice. Everything which oppo 

of the children of Israel, of the true seed, 

?h* to be removed from the camp, ought to be faithfully 

tified against; the idol^ both of Bilver and of gold, 

-'it to be "put away" from amongst us; and when the 

trumpet shall be Mown again in Zion, with that certain 

Bound which is still able to awaken such as have fallen 

asleep, and to prepare them to fight the Lord's battle, 

there is much that will be slain, which passes now for the 

best of the sheep and the oxen. Then a solemn assembly 
will be called, and a fast sanctified; and the priests, the 
ministers of the Lord, will he clothed with the spirit of 
true mourning, and be made skilful in lamentation: and 
there will then he hope that the Lord will be jealous for 
His land, and pity His people, and cause them to arise and 
slime, because their light has come, and the glory of the 
Lord ^ arisen upon them. How different from glorying 
in our shame, while our confusion covers as, even to that 
degree that we cannot see ourselves as we really are; vainly 
supposing that we are rich, and increased ^ ith goods, anil 
have need of nothing, while we are really poor, and blind, 
and naked, and stand in need of every thing ! oh: what 
an apprehension of fulness and safety appears in the printed 
account of London Yearly Meeting! Such sufficiency to 
act; and what an abundance of activity.' And amidst all 

this, the one thing needful seems to be almost wholly want- 



LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1853. 

ing. " Oh, my people ! they which lead thee cause tl 
i- err 3 and destroy the way of thy paths!' 1 

1 i hi I bad i!«» intention <>{' writing at Buch length when 1 

took up my pen; merely thinking 1 would say to thee, as 
dcai- John Wilbur is L r oiiiL r over, that I hope tnou wilt meet 
with liim (for I trust thou canst receive him. notwithstand- 
ing his bonds); for it' his life should be spared, with our 

own lives, to see him again, it would he bo pleasant to my 

dear wife and to me to have BOme aeeount of thee by him. 

I have no doubt it will be considered as a very presump- 
tuous, or a very foolish art in him. to attempt to cross the 
ocean again at his time of life, and under existing cir- 

cumstances. both with you and us. But I have no doubt 

■ 

myself of the rectitude of the concern, however it may 
terminate ; whether he lives to get there or not, and whether 
way is made for him publicly or not : and surely, with any 
man of his capacity and sensibility, nothing less than the 
most imperative sense of religious obligation could have 
induced such a sacrifice. Neither can 1 doubt there are 
some, scattered up and down, who will be prepared to re- 
ceive him, and to receive him with open arms, although it 
may cause them some, perhaps much. Buffering. 

( )h ! that there was more of a willingness, both with you 
and u>, to sufl'er ! And will not Friends have to come to 
this before they get hack, or can L r et hack to primitive 
ground? The mode of suffering, to he sure, has changed: 
formerly it wa<< from without; now it is from those with 
whom we have peradventure been accustomed to take sweet 
counsel, and to go up to the Lord's house in their com- 
pany. After all. I have sometimes doubted, whether we 
Could take the spoiling of our goods, or endure long im- 
prisonment b, any easier than we can risk our rights in reli- 
gious society, and the loss of a good name therein. I know, 

by experience, that the last mode of suffering is not easy 
to he endured. I remember my affliction, the wormwood, 

and the gall. But I Was Sometimes permitted to feed a 
consoling a88Urance that mv life would he given me for a 
prey : and that nothing would he permitted to harm me, if 

J faithfully followed that which ] was favored to see f 

riirht and eood. And I have had no cause to repent having 



1 868. ) THOMAS B. QOULD. 

done bo. Bu< it' I had consulted expediency, and looked 
at the consequences, I believe whal little I had would ha 
;i taken from me; yea, that 1 should have suffered I 

<>f all ! Many, very many, have split apon tin- rock, not 
looking a1 the mark for the prize <>f the 1 1 1 i_r 1 1 and holy 
calling, with a Bingle eye. 

It remains to be a- true, that u he thai receiveth whomso- 
ever I Bend receiveth Die," as that Christ's >hrep hear I lis 

voice and follow Him, hut will neither receive nor follow 
the voice of the stranger. Hoi? unsafe it is to depart from 
this ground, even in what may be considered little things, 
the multitudes who have recently fallen in this way, both 

on the right hand and on the left, hear mournful wit- 






From T. I>. G. to William Hodgson. 

Newport, 10th mo., 13th, 1853. 
My DBAK Friend, William Hodgson, Jr.: 

It seems to me that there is great delusion 

somewhere : that this Bpirit of amalgamation is splendidly 
delusive; and the tendency of it is glossed over with a 
very smooth and exceedingly fine-looking varnish ; but, 
after all. a slight knock often proves sufficient to crack the 
varnish, and to show that all is not glorious or harmonious 
within; that the boasted patience is not exactly the pa- 
tience of the saints ; neither is the unity talked of, like the 
unity of the one true and living faith which they kept and 
possessed, ami by which they obtained the victory over its 
enemies and theirs, instead of being obliged to surrender 
to them, and being overcome by them. 

I understand that B. II. said, in their select yearly 
meeting, that neither body in New England received your 
w * Report" in the spirit in which it was written; and that 
both bodies had done violence to the discipline and order 
of the Society. Dost thou take him to be an ori<jin<il cha- 
racter '.' I should much like to know wherein we have vio- 
lated the discipline; and should scarcely fear to ask him 
who invented the slander, whether we did not receive the 
Report of your meeting for sufferings, in as creditable a 

28* 



330 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

spirit (not to speak of common civility, or Christianity 
either), as our acknowledgment of its reception was re- 
ceived, by the power which ruled in your yearly meeting? 
How much religious good can be reasonably expected to be 
gained by anybody, from continuing to meet, year after 
year, in the present disjointed and unsound state of Ohio 
Pearly Meeting (and perhaps some others), is scarcely a 
question in my mind. On the whole, I think, whatever of 

g 1 remains among them there, is quite as likely to be 

increasingly tinctured with the leaven of the Pharisees 
(thou knowest what that was declared to be), as it is. to be 
instrumental " in restoring that which has gone astray, 
and gathering them into the true sheepfold. But time 
will undoubtedly make manifest what the real object is. 
The tree will be known by its fruit. 

Thou art doubtless aware ere this, that our dear friend, 
J. Wilbur, sailed on the 28th of last month, in the ship Ni- 
agara, with his son Amos for a care-taker. I hope ere 
this they have safely landed on the shores of that once 
eminently favored isle. I spent a day or two with him at 
Fall River, and took leave of him there, the evening before 
he sailed. lie seemed fresh and lively in his spirit, and 
increasingly bound to the service; expected to proceed 
directly to London, and to remain for a time about there. 
I was glad to find that L. A. Barclay heartily united with 
him in this prospect. I was reluctant to leave him short 
of the ship, and I know it was some disappointment to 
him : but my dear mother was so poorly, I could not feel 
easy to go further from home. Except, however, a very 
ill turn during my absence, she has continued much in the 
same state as when I last wrote to thee 

T. B. Gould. 
To William Hodgson. 

Elm side, 2d mo. 8th, L85 i. 
My DBAB Fribnd, William HODGSON, Jr. : 

I have almost daily thought of writing to thee. 

ami truly 1 have much wished to do "<>: but for several 

iks after 1 received thy letter, my precious, lamented 



I B5 I. ] THOMAS B. QOULD. 

mother lay bo very ill, and in Buch a Buffering condition, 
that I could not do it : and during the last week of her 
life, by constant watching, both day and night, at her bed- 
Bide, and exposure to strong currents of air (which were 
indispensable to her), 1 contracted a very severe cold, or a 
succession of them, which Bettled on my lungs, and which, 
a few days after the funeral, laid me upon my own bed, 
and confined me there for many weeks, in great suffering, 
and danger of my life also; and i have been since, until 
yesterday, wholly confined to the house, when I went over 
to father's for the first time, it being very pleasant. But 
I have already found that 1 could not even do that with 
impunity, though with great caution ; my lungs, or bron- 
chial tubes, being yet in Buoh a weak and disordered con- 
dition; although 1 am in hope-, when the weather gets 
finer, that I may once more get about again, nearly as I 
have been accustomed to do. 

Speaking of my beloved mother, I think she was the 
greatest sufferer that I ever saw ; and it has been my lot 
to witness a good deal of suffering. But her mind was 
preserved in the most perfect calmness and peace to the 
last : and there was even a heavenly expression of hu- 
mility, tranquillity, and resignation, resting upon her coun- 
tenance, which attracted the attention, and elicited expres- 
sions of admiration, from transient beholders. One giddy 
young woman, who happened to go into her room, remarked 
to my wife, on leaving it, "What a feeling of peace and 
quietness pervades even the rooms of such as are prepared 
for death ! I was very much affected by it, all the while 
I stayed there. She must be very good!" This seemed 
striking to me, and the more so, as nothing had been said 
by any one, to lead to it. Indeed, dear mother would not 
allow anything of the kind to be said to her. She very 
seldom alluded to herself in any way, during her sickness : 
and when she did so, it was always with the most unaf- 
fected humility and abascdness of self, that I ever wit- 
nessed. A few hours before she was released, she desired 
me to give her dear love to Friends in Philadelphia whom 
she knew, and she mentioned thee by name. This last I 
have felt bound to say, and the rest thou must excuse, if 



832 LIFK AND LETTERS OF [1854., 

thou canst. Her memory is precious to me beyond what 
I can express, even if it were desirable 

Sow silent and cautious "The Friend" continues to be! 
Truly, if Friends had only been as "wise and prudent" 
previous to the Hicksite separation, the errors of Hicks- 
ism would not have been exposed; every man would not 
only have been allowed to enjoy, but also to promulgate 
his own opinions: and what an edifying degree of love, 
and unity, and harmony might now have been enjoyed, by 
those who professed to hold to sound principles, with such 
as had adopted the infidel sentiments of Elias Hicks ! 
Well, this ma;/ be in the ordering of Divine Wisdom, but 
I doubt it. I have no confidence whatever in the modern 
doctrine and practice of expediency. This prudential 
wisdom, I cannot away with it. . There are many 

articles in " The Friend," that arc neither wholly clear, nor 
wholly dark to me ; a kind of mongrel, apocryphal pro- 
duction. It would be very desirable to have things made 
so plain, that there could be no mistake about them. And 
there is some consolation in believing, that there remains 
to be a beautiful simplicity in the truth; although judg- 
ment seems to be often " turned away backward, and truth 
to have fallen in the streets, so that equity cannot enter." 
But it was (was it not?) when the Lord "saw that there 
was no man," no faithful, unflinching advocate for truth, 
and "wondered that there was no intercessor," that " His 
own arm brought salvation, and His righteousness it sus- 
tained Him," and the truth of His cause. May it be so 
now ! 

Second month, 11th. I have had an ill turn since I 
commenced this letter, by reason of which it has been de- 
layed longer than I intended. I am too weak and nervous 
to write, now; but I thought I would try to add, that a 
Friend from Vermont has recently visited nearly or quite 
all of the meetings, and many of the families, in this 
yearly meeting, and also appointed a number of meetings 
amongst other people, to very good satisfaction. I had 
never BO much as heard his name mentioned, until I heard 
of his being in Ohio at the time of their last yearly meet- 
ing, and that he was not allowed, or rather advised not to 



1854.] THOMAS B, GOULD. 

attend it. I have never heard him myself in il 
of his gift, except in a private opportunity in my own 
in, while I lay ill in bed. Thai opportunity occurred 
wholly unexpectedly and remarkably to me, just before he 
left, after having spent several days and nights (on and 
off) at our house. A very precious solemnity Bpread o 
11-. and continued for some time before a word was uttered; 
under which our hearts were contrited, and united in a 
good degree of that heavenly fellowship which is Bome- 
times preciously experienced; and to the apostolic de- 
scription of which, he added, "Truly, our fellowship is 
with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ/ 1 II< i 
certainly reached and spoke to my condition, in a manner 
very striking to me, and he could have had no outward 
clue to it whatever. 

There is nothing in the appearance, or perhaps in 
the natural talents of the man, aside from his gift, which 
seems very likely to produce a sensation ; but as I 
have previously been quite as much edified and encour- 
aged by the manifestation of " the Lord's power through 
a ploughman," as by " the wisdom of the north, or the 
eloquence of the south,'' there is a satisfaction to me 
in recording this fresh instance of it. And moreover, I 
thought it might possibly be interesting and somewhat en- 
couraging to thee, to hear a report of good things coming 
again, as it were, out of Nazareth; of one, whom many 
would consider as an alien, a separatist, and an outcast, 
being shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, so 
that his feet appeared "beautiful upon the mountain" of 
the Lord's house and holiness ; although this beauty can 
only be discerned by such whose ej^es have been opened, 
and are kept open, by the repeated application of the eye- 
salve of the Kingdom. In being with, and thinking of, 
this Friend, I could not divest myself of painful reflections 
and impressions, with regard to that state of things which 
had excluded him from even a seat in Ohio Yearly 

Meeting 

Farewell. 

T. B. Gould. 



834 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

To Peleg Mitchell. 

Elm8ide, Newport, 27th of 2d mo., 1854. 
My dbab Friend, Pblrg Mitchell: 

.... went up to see my precious mother, a 

few weeks before she was gathered to her everlasting rest, 
and it was to their mutual satisfaction. Oh! my dear 

friend, it had never been my lot to lose so near and dear 
a relative before, and the stroke was unutterably severe. 
Sometimes I think I could have borne it easier, it' she had 
nol been so great a sufferer ; and at others, that all she 
suffered was necessary, to enable us to give her up. I am 
satisfied that her sufferings were not on her own account ; 
and neither these nor her virtues can ever be forgotten 
while memory lasts. Greater humility, stronger and more 
prevailing faith in the Divine goodness and mercy, or better 
evidence that all would be and is well with her, I never 
wit nosed. 

There was an unusually large attendance at her fune- 
ral, notwithstanding the day was wet and lowering ; 
and just before the hour, it came on to be very cold 
and blustering, the wind having changed. An unusual 
covering of solemnity spread over the company, and seemed 
to pervade the whole house, which was full of people. Not 
a word was uttered; no sound was heard but that of the 
wind outside: all was peace and quietness within ; and just 
before the close of the opportunity, the sun, which had 
been hitherto obscured, broke through the clouds, and pene- 
trating through the cracks between the window-shutters, 
filled the house with a mild, subdued, and mellow, yet 
glorious autumnal light ; and I could not help thinking 
that it was a lit emblem of that more glorious, heavenly 
light, in the full fruition of which her purified spirit was, 

without doubt, everlastingly centred; notwithstanding the 

boisterous winds and tempests through which her gentle 
spirit had had to pass, in the course of her journey through 
this bleak, unfeeling world, and which had been per- 
mitted to beat againM her. in her passage through the 
dark valley of the shadow of death : although, before the 

close, there was a great, a perfect calm, and she was per- 
mitted to pass sweetly, quietly, and so gently away, that 



I.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 885 

we could do! define the precise momenl of our unutterable 
loss, or her eternal gain. . 

1 Buppose we may look for him [J. Wilbur] home again 
very Boon, it' he has no1 already embarked. I should uot 

surprised if he should be at the meeting for sufferin 
in the fourth month, at New Bedford. But even if he 
should be, what a blank there is there! How little a 
while those two worthies, Francis Taber and Job Eddy, 

were separated! In how short a time, WC who are left 

behind, were bereaved of them both ! " Lovely and pleasant 
in their lives, in their deaths they were scarcely divided/ 1 

But where shall we look for their equals, and who shall 
arise to fill their places? Truly, the prospect of a succes- 
sion of such standard-bearers looks gloomy to me. The 
old people have gone and are going into the earth, and the 
young ones into the air. I often feel exceedingly discour- 
aged ; and in this respect, I suppose I am not entirely alone. 
Dost thou see the "British Friend?" In their twelfth 
month number, they came nobly and boldly out in defence 
of the truth. In that of first month, they did pretty well, 
although they showed fcigns of faltering; and in the second 
month number, they seem nearly to have nullified all the 
good they had done, by far-fetched and needless enco- 
miums upon the abundance of the labors of their nume- 
rous delegations, and missions to the uttermost parts of the 
earth ; as if one fountain could send forth bitter water and 
sweet, at one and the same time ! 

As ever, thine, 

T. B. Gould. 

To Charles Perry and Ethan Foster. 

Elmside, third month, 2d, 1854. 

My dear Friends : 

I unite fully with Ethan in the fear which 

he expressed in his letter to me, and I am almost ready to 
say, in the belief, that on account of the great degeneracy 
and corruption, both in church and state, a day is approach- 
ing, and almost at the door, which will try the faith and 
foundations of men, in a nearer and more personal manner 
than what has long been known, or is at all expected by 
many. And I am often ready to query, notwithstanding 



336 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18o4. 

I thus write, Who will be able to Btand? Who, even 
amongst us, will be able Co endure the devouring fire of 
persecution for righteousness 1 Bake, when it Bhall extend to 
our persons and our estates, and even our lives also? I 
can by no means Bay that I feel able to endure it ; I have 
no strength nor confidence in myself to speak of or to boi 
of; out 1 think I feel more ami more, the necessity of en- 
deavoring to cleave fasl to that whicb is able to sustain all 
those who do pul their whole trust and confidence therein. 
even the unchangeable, immovable Rock. But when I look 
. upon the prospect and condition el" things in the Church 
ami in the world, I am often rendered entirely disconso- 
late : BO that I am, as it were, compelled to ilee to the Rock, 
and to get under the shadow and shelter of it, fur prut 

tion and defence 

As ever vour friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



Elmside, 23d of fourth month, 1854. 



Draft or v Letter prom T. B. G. to Joseph Brintox. 
Deab Joseph : 

The deep interest which I have long felt in 

the proceedings of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, — as that 
which, according to mv sense of feeling, embraces within 
its limits the largest and soundest body of old-fashioned 
Friends, — has by- no means abated; and I do earnestly 
desire that the time may be hastened, when the Lord shall 
arise for the help and deliverance of these from that which 

grievously oppresses and afflicts them. But, whether it 
may be for "a time, times, or half a time" — whether the 
time may be shortened for the elect seed's sake, or He may 

Seem to tarry long, and suffer the contradictions of sinners 

againsl Himself, yel I am persuaded that, in His own time, 

He will come, and will nol tarry beyond it ! Then will 
such as have continued with Him in temptation and through 
suffering, inherit the kingdom prepared for such, and for 

Midi only, from the foundation of the world. Then will 
they he permitted to return to the place of true rest, to 
return and come to /ion. the city of the saints' solemnities, 
and the tabernacle which shall not he taken down, which 
in itself remains to he an " eternal excellency," and will, 



I. ] MOM IS B, GOULD, 887 

ie the joy and the praise of the whole 

earth : although it m;iv seem to be forsaKen, and those who 

prefer jperity aoove their chiefesl joy, may 1"- deemed 

M aliens, and spoken of as outcasts, whom f n seek 

. or seem to care for. But such as these, wherever 

btered by the overwhelming flood which the dragon has 
been permitted to pour out of his mouth, do uevertheL 
experience a fellowship in Buffering, one with another, and 
with the Captain of their salvation (who was Himself made 
perfect through sufferings ; so thai at times they can 
adopt the language of the experienced Apostle, when he 
said, '"1 am exceeding joyful in all my tribulations ;" and 
again, M Although no affliction for the present may seem to 
be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless it yieldeth the peace- 
ful fruits of righteousness to those who arc exercised 
thereby.' 1 So that all depends upon our being rightly 

ircised by that dispensation we may be called to pass 
through, ami on our continued faithfulness unto Him who 
hath called us, whether it be in suffering or rejoicing ; there 
being danger on every hand, both right-hand errors and left- 
hand errors; and such as the enemy cannot destroy in one 
way, he may betray in another, where they less expect his 
attacks. But help, all-sufficient help, is laid upon One who 
IS able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless 
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. 

I have no hesitation in confessing my entire 

conviction that in true unity there is strength, and what- 
havc a tendency to separate true Friends more 
widely from each other, certainly does weaken them ; and 
a desire to promote or maintain this unity, is w T idely dif- 
ferent from a combination or confederacy against the truth. 
I think the great pains which have been taken by some in 
Philadelphia to keep their members, who felt some sympa- 
thy and unity with us, away from us, has already done us 
great harm, and perhaps little good to them; for certainly, 
in a general way at least, those who have taken the pains 
to come and see for themselves, have not, I believe, gone 
away feeling less interested (shall I say unity?) with us, 

than before they came 

Thy sincere and affectionate friend, » 

T. B. Gould. 

29 



338 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1854. 



CHATTER VII. 



A RELIGIOUS engagement had been gradually maturing 
in the mind of Thomas B. Gould, to pay a visit in the 
love of the Gospel, to Friends in some parts beyond the 
limits of his own yearly meeting. This prospect of service 
at a greater distance from his own home than it had ever 
before fallen to his lot to travel, was attended with cir- 
cumstances of peculiar trial. He was at this time greatly 
enfeebled by illness; and the sad reports which were 
spread abroad, of the prevalence of cholera in some places 
which he felt himself led to visit, were sufficient to cast 
down his particularly sensitive feelings. This formidable 
disease attacked his native city of Newport at this junc- 
ture; and very near the time fixed for his departure to 
Ohio, his own home was invaded, and four of his children 
were prostrated by it, two of them being reduced very 
near to the gates of death. He w T as brought into a great 
strait. He had been afraid of meeting the disease abroad, 
and discouraged about going, on that account; though not 
to such a degree as to cast away the shield of faith, or 
actually to shrink from complying with what he believed 
was really required of hiiu. But now the trial was changed, 
and his nature was almost ready to recoil at the thought 
of leaving home, in the condition into which his beloved 
family were brought. Yet even here, and when the query 
was put by the good Remembrancer, " Lovest thou me 
more than these i He that knowcth the secrets of all 
hearts was pleased to accept the acknowledgment, "Lord, 
thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee;" 
and waiting faithfully on the all-merciful Hand of Him 
who afflicts in mercy and loving-kindness to His poor ser- 



1854.] THOMAS B. GOULD, 839 

van rmitted to feel the arm of the Almighty 

ended for his help, and for the confirmation of hie faith 
and confidence in Him ; and enabled to acknowledge, that 
"day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
Bhoweth knowjedge" of I lis mercy and of His goodn< 
His children were all favored to recover, he regained his 
own health very considerably, and was made remarkably 
serviceable, by personal attentions, in relieving tin* dis- 
of many poor destitute persons in the cholera hospital 
of Newport, who had been shamefully neglected by some 
having charge of them. Thus all the home discourage- 
ments were taken away; and all fear was banished from 
his mind, in respect to the prevalence of the complaint in 
the places to which his sense of religious duty was about to 
lead him ; and he bade farewell to his family and friends, 
in due time to accomplish what lie had in view. 

Another cause of discouragement attending this prospect 
of distant service, was one connected with the distracted 
state into which the great prevalency of the Gurney 
schism had thrown the Society of Friends. The tem- 
porizing and compromising system, which had sprung up 
within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting a few years before, 
had spread into Ohio, and had, in both those yearly meet- 
ings as well as elsewhere, greatly broken the ranks of 
those who had at first stood firmly against the innovations 
of the modern school. A " middle party" was the result 
of this new T defection, more plausible and far more difficult 
to contend against, than open Gurney ism itself, inasmuch 
as its aim was more hidden and insidious, and its mode of 
procedure more illusory, slippery, and uncandid. But the 
tendency of this system of policy was, and still is, to lead 
into confusion, to destroy the vitality of the testimony of 
those who became entangled in it, and gradually — though 
of late rapidly — to carry them within the power of that 
very vortex which they once saw, understood, and ab- 
horred. Many of its positions were untenable by right 
reason, and distinguished by great inconsistencies, such as 
have rarely been met with in the Society of Friends ; in 
whose history, hitherto, the plan of temporizing and com- 
promising with that which was opposing the pure truth, 



840 LUTE AND LBTTBRS OF [1854. 

and rending the body from its foundation on the immu- 
table Rock, had been unknown. 

This spirit was characterized by a constant tendency to 
make concessions to the Grurney party, and a connivance 

at many of their irregular transactions, notwithstanding 
its high and unfounded charges against those who could 

not unite with it herein, of departure from the order and 
discipline of the Society. These concessions and conni- 
vances, including an inordinate deference to London Yearly 
Meeting, and desire to cling to it even in its present posi- 
tion of sanctioning error and schism, were "with the vain 
hope of producing a reconciliation between elements essen- 
tially opposed to each other. But this system — not stand- 
ing upon the ground of the unchangeable truth, but on 
that of policy and supposed expediency, and the alleged 
duty of " submission to the body" (or, in other words, to 
the majority)^ — had no convincing efficacy. Most of its 
power was attributable to the influence of certain members 
active in its promotion, to the great numbers naturally 
pleased with a way so much easier to the flesh, than that 
of " earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the 
saints." ami to its | ion of the pen, in the two yearly 

meetings in America especially affected by it, and of an 
influential press in the one, the echoes of which were heard 
among the hills of the other. 

There might certainly have been something amiable and 
attractive in the position of attempting to soothe the trou- 
bled waters, had this position been carried out consistently 
with a firm and unflinching maintenance of the Truth as it 
is in Jesus, — from which no church of Christ can safelv 
abate one jot or tittle. But this system, while it professed 
to disapprove of the innovations in doctrine, and lamented 
the changes of discipline and practice which have been 
made in BOme place-. BOOU showed its proclivity for the 

oular Bide of the question, began to hush up the further 
exposure of the doctrinal errors of Grurneyism, and mani- 
fested a settled aversion and hostility to the % * smaller 
bodies;" alleging that they (not the (Jurney party, who 
were in the majority), were the separatists from the So- 
ciety ; refusing the reception and publication of their docu- 



1. ] THOMAS B. QOULD. 

ments, and denying them the right to have their memb( 
and ministers recognized, in the meetings where it had the 
power to prevent the reading of their certificates, or the 
appointing of meetings at their request. Tims, though 
-till professing a degree of unity with them as individuals, 
and fallaciously conceding to them in word*, the right of 
Buch recognition as was needful to secure them in the en- 
joyment of their rights as members, by a strange incon- 
sistency, it refused them the very means by which that 
membership could l>e placed beyond doubt or cavil ; as 
Thomas B. Gould soon found exemplified, in his own case, 

in Ohio Yearly Meeting. In short, it may be truly said, 
that this system (very similar to that which in England, 
in 1836, frittered away and frustrated the issuing of a 
clear testimony against Beaconism), has for more than ten 
years, in Ohio and Philadelphia Yearly Meetings, kept the 
iety in perpetual distraction (instead of the hollow har- 
mony which it aimed to promote), by its too successful at- 
tempts to turn aside the living sense and solid judgment 
of the church; which would otherwise have carried the 
testimony of truth over the heads of opposers, would have 
convinced many honest but entangled minds, and would 
have prevented much of the defection, and many grievous 
departures, which have taken place in several yearly 
meetings ; and thus the Society might have been enabled 
to go forward in true harmony and peace, as in years gone 
by, under the guidance, care, and help of its holy Head 
and High Priest, the Immanuel, God with us, the Way, 
the Truth, and the Life. 

Such was the spirit and system which T. B. Gould 
foresaw that he must encounter, as well as original Gur- 
neyism, in visiting Ohio Yearly Meeting ; and such was 
the spirit which rendered the separation that occurred 
there at that time, so defective in its results. 

The reader may, by the foregoing remarks, be prepared 
to understand certain allusions and circumstances, men- 
tioned in his letters during that journey, which mi^ht 
otherwise be obscure or almost unintelligible. 

Although only forty-one years of age, he had now been 
in the exercise of the public ministry of the Gospel, for 

29* 



342 LIFE AND LETTERS OJf [18o4. 

fourteen years. Haying faithfully occupied the gift re- 
ceived, he bad been made ruler over more, had grown 
from a Btripling to the stature of a man in the Lord'.- ser- 
vice, and was made " an ambassador for ( Ihrist," a u stew- 
ard of the mysteries' 1 of the Kingdom, and, we humbly 
believe, u a pillar in the temple of the Lord, that should 
go no more out." His ministry was Bound in doctrine, 
weighty in Bubstance, earnest and dignified in aspect, full 
and clear in expression, watchful and calm in delivery, 
beautiful in the elucidation and confirmation of the great 
truths of religion by that which u was written aforetime 
for our learning ;" reaching the witness in the hearts of 

the hearers by a wonderful sweetness to the spiritual ear, 
and by the baptizing power which accompanied it, and 
demonstrating to the candid mind, beyond a doubt, that 
its spring was from the living fountain, which issues from 
under the altar of the Lord. Yet " this treasure" was in 
an ** earthen vessel/ 1 and was all of Grace, no glory be- 
longing to the instrument. 

From T. B. G. to William Hodgson. 

Elmside, [3th of 7th month. 1854. 
Ml DRAKLY BBLOVED ELDER BROTHER : 

.... I never remember to have felt more peaceful, 
quiet satisfaction, at t lie close of any yearly meeting, or 
for a longer period thereafter, than since the last. But 
to or for everything there is a season, if not an end; and 
bo 1 have found it in regard to what I may perhaps be 
allowed to term thai sabbath of rest; for oh ! what plung- 
ingS have been my portion since, and continue so to he; 
in and under which, thy very seasonable and salutary 
acknowledgment of fellow-hip therein, was bo far truly 
comforting and encouraging 

With what perspicuity and fulness hasl thou reached 

and covered the whole ground occupied by that "plant," 
which I greatly fear has become like a "degenerate plant 
of a strange vine" unto Sim, who designed to make it a 

plant of true excellence and high renown! It certainly 

did, for a while. >hine forthwith great brilliancy; the 



L854.] tih»m.\> i:. «;<•! i.D. 8 L8 

iVuit v tedingly Bweef to the taste, the form ther< 

vras beautiful and comely, and its Bmell delightful. Bui 
for want of keeping close enougb to That from which it 
derived all it- excellence and comeliness, I greatly fear 
that the "harvest will be an heap" of trouble "in the 
day of iiriof and of desperate sorrow." In addition to 
what I have lately had to Buffer on .my own account, 1 
have felt much of the "bitterness 01 death/' on account 
of Buch as Beem evidently to have forgotten the God of 
their salvation, and to have become unmindful of the Rock 
of their Btrength, When last In that locality. I had pub- 
licly to proclaim, in the hearing of such as vainly sup- 
posed bo, that the bitterness of death was by no means 
past ; seeing Agag was yet alive, and that wicked woman 
ebel, who calletb herself a prophetess, was still suffered 

to teach, and >educe, and to bring into spiritual Sodom 
and Egypt, where our dear Lord was and is crucified : yea, 

it seemed to me as if there had been an inscription afresh 
written, comparable to that in Hebrew, and Greek, and 

Latin, and Bet over His head.* And yet I have lately 
had reason to fear, that I am not myself entirely clear of 
blood-guiltiness, because of my having let some know how 
dearly I loved them ; but the full amount of esteem which 
I felt for, and expectation which I had of them, I never 
did disclose to the party referred to. Oh ! how necessary 
and how profitable wisdom is to direct in all things, if it 
were only sufficiently Bought after and abode in! ... 

30th. — I wrote the foregoing on the day of its date, 
being ;it the time in a very suffering condition from an attack 
of asthma, dyspepsia, and bronchitis combined; and unable 
either to lie down, or to take sufficient nourishment of any 
kind to prevent great suffering from hunger, besides the 
difficulty of breathing. The last symptom was some- 
what relieved in about ten days from the commencement 
of the attack, by repeated discharges of blood from 
the bronchial membrane, as my physician said, and of 
which I have no doubt. By this, with the remedies used, 
I have been and am greatly weakened, being scarcely able 

•" This has since been sorrowfully verified. 



314 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [L v 

to write these lines ; neither have I attempted to write one 
line before, since the former date. . . Notwithstanding 

my weak and Buffering state many ways, I got to monthly 
meeting last fifth-day ; and therein was constrained (not 
willingly), to lay before Friends a concern which has 
ripened and settled upon me, to visit the meetin 
Friends in some p;wts of New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
more and Ohio Yearly Meetings, and it" way should open 
i'<>Y it. to attend the last-named yearly meeting; and also 
in the course of tlie visit to appoint some meetings among 
those not of our Society, as Best Wisdom may direct. I 
did and still do believe, the time had fully come for me to 
lay this burden hefore Friends. I had a secret hope they 
would take it upon themselves; hut they did not. It was 
united with feelingly, and a committee of four Friend-, 
two men and two women, appointed to prepare a certifi- 
cate, and bring it before an adjournment of the monthly 
meeting, which was held yesterday; when the certificate 
was passed. It remains to be seen, what the quarterly 
meeting, which occurs next fifth-day, will do with it. 
Thou mayst rest assured, that it has not been without very 
close conflicts, and the exercise of some faith, which has 
been mercifully a little renewed at times, that I have ven- 
tured thus far. Few persons, I apprehend, have greater 
natural reluctance to such work, and to leaving home, 
even when in tolerable health, than myself. And in my 
present weak and suffering condition, along with the cir- 
cumstances of the times in the Society, and the preva- 
lence of cholera in many places, it seems to me very doubt- 
ful whether I shall, if indeed I am able to set out, ever 
roach my home again : neither do I know of any com- 
panion. But my dear Martha, although she says she could 
not consent to my going rMW, if I were in other respects 
ready, on account of my feebleness, still feels confident 
that I shall begin to improve after quarterly meeting, and 
Continue to gain strength as I proceed on the journey. 
La8l night I got no rest at all, being unable to lie down, 
or to Bleep in my chair, till after six o'clock this morning; 
when I Was favored to get a choice nap, only wakening up 
in time to get to meeting. 



1S">4.] THOMAS B. SOULD. 84 



• > 



I btl oth, 4th. 
Yesterday was our quarterly meeting. It was much 
larger than was expected, and considerably larger than 
been usual when held here, although few beside our 
•i members were present ; and it proved a season nol 
m to be forgotten, both as regards the public and also 
the last meeting. In the former, after a time of great 
famine and Btrippedness, dear J. Wilbur was raised up 
with a small opening, and in greal bowedness evidently : 
but the waters gradually arose, until they could not be 
passed over, by reason of tin 4 breadth and length, as well 
as the depth thereof; and they Beemed to be of a renew- 
edly healing quality, comparable to the river of the water 
of life, afresh sel in motion for the especial benefit of the 
car- ons and daughters present, some of whom I trust 

were mercifully baptized therein. Dear Elizabeth Hill 
followed him, in a lively manner : and Phebe Foster fol- 
lowed her, in a BWeet and touching communication, though 
short. She was evidently clothed with a garment of 
humility ; and when she sat down, the meeting was re- 
markably covered with the spirit of prayer and thanks- 
giving. 

After the ordinary business had been 

gone through, thy poor correspondent opened his con- 
cern, and laid the certificate of the monthly meeting on 
the table : whereupon J. Wilbur said, that although it 
was the province of the quarterly meeting to judge of 
such concerns upon their own merits, yet he thought it 
best that the certificate of the monthly meeting should be 
then read ; which was done ; and the whole meeting 
seemed to be dipped into much feeling, and a longer than 
usual, and very profound silence prevailed ; during which 
my own mind was mercifully brought, as I humbly trust, 
into entire resignation, either to go or stay ; although up 
to this time I had tried to hope, that by some means or 
other the thing might be stopped in the quarterly meeting, 
and the burden thereby transferred from mine to other 
shoulders. At length dear J. W. stood up, and remarked, 
that his mind had been very forcibly turned back to the 
time, and impressed with the declaration of the Saviour, 






846 LIFH AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

when he Bent the primitive disciples forth, and told them 
thai they should bear witness of Him and for Him, at 
Jerusalem, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of 
the earth ; how he not only sent them forth, but gave 
them their message, even the word of the Lord to deliver, 
going before them, and abiding with them, their sure pro- 
tection and all-sufficient Helper. He had been renewedly 
comforted in believing that this thing was of the Lord ; 
that He was about to send forth a messenger, and that 
Himself would give the message; that He, as He was 
relied upon in singleness of heart, would be mouth and 
wisdom, tongue and utterance. He then feelhiLrlv alluded 
to the -traits and baptisms that must needs have been 
passed through (as well as what might be expected to 
come), before such a prospect could have been yielded to 
in these perilous times ; but he did believe that a few 
standard-bearers had been preserved, and would be pro- 
ved, even amongst US, and that the law would continue to 
be sent forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from 
Jerusalem. This is the substance of a part ; but there 
was much more which I could not properly put down, and 
perhaps I have related too much already. However, 
while I felt none the less sensible of the awful respon- 
sibility, or of my own utter weakness, nothingness, and 
insufficiency, it was truly strengthening and encouraging 
to me. There was another long and solemn pause, during 

which many hearts were tendered and affected even to 

« 

tears, and all present who could have been expected to do 
in due time expressed their unity. Dear J. W. went 
with me into the women's meeting, where it met with a 
very Bimilar reception : although here, as in the men's 
part, it took many, if not most present, entirely by sur- 
prise : and after the female members of our own quarter 
had expressed themselves, Elizabeth Hill seemed con- 
strained to acknowledge her near unity and sympathy, 

with considerable more, somewhat after the manner of J! 

W. in the other meeting ; and there was a fuller cndor- - 
nient prepared and placed upon my certificate, than I 

could have bad any expectation of 

And now, my dear friend, let me add, that my health 



L854.] THOMAS B, GOULD, B47 

improved, my appetite ia better, though still poor, 

ami 1 am >till Buffering a good deal with asthma, bul no- 
thing to be compared with what I did two weeks 
and witn what diligence 1 can, 1 am making ready to 
out; not knowing what will befall me on my journ< 
Bavins that "the II<»lv Ghost witnesseth. that bonds and 
afflictions await me," and, ii may be, of n<> ordinary kind; 
although 1 am not prepared to Bay how it may be as to 
u every city," neither am I looking for great things in 
any respect, or to make an extensive visit within the 
limits of any yearly meeting : and if I can but be favored 
to do what my hands may find to do, whether it be in 
silent Buffering or in active labor, and to do no harm, it 

will be all that I can expect, and in that case I may not 

lose a sufficient reward. My deai- friend, Israel Buffin- 

ton, expects to hear me company, and with him I am fully 
satisfied. 

J. J. Gurney, when here, seemed to be under some 
guard, while attending the yearly meeting : and I could 
not say much more about his ministrations at that time, 
than that the whole course and tendency thereof was 
wrong-end-foremost and out of joint ; not one ray of 
light, life, or Gospel authority. After the yearly meet- 
ing, he had an appointed meeting here in Newport. He 

3 long silent therein, which I believe was unusual with 
him ; and when he did at length speak, he still seemed 
rather guarded. But he did nevertheless say, in the 
course of his communication, that "simple faith — mere 

denee, — formed a fundamental link in the great chain 
of Christian doctrine, in the Gospel of life and salvation." 
This I consider unsound doctrine. In a neighboring 
meeting, he declared, that the best of men before the 
flood had but a very little light, or a glimmering ray of 
light ; that the light which they had, even the best of 
them, was not to be compared with what was or might be 
now enjoyed by the weakest Christian. An old elder 
wdio was present, said to me afterwards, that, although 
Joseph John might consider himself one of the best and 
strongest of Christians, he doubted much whether he had 
quite as much light as Enoch ! . . . Farewell. 

T. B. G. 



LIFE AND LETTEBS OF [185 1. 

From Mar* Davis to T. B. G. 

Dartmouth, eighth month, 20th, 1854. 
My beloved Friend, T. I). Gould: 

I know not the cause why I have fell my mind unex- 
pectedly drawn to write a few words to thee. When thou 
wast brought to my mind, thou appeared rather poor and 
low in spirit, a condition that has been the clothing of my 
mind as with a garment for a long season ; so that I have 

rcely been able to look up: yet I desire not to com- 
plain, but to acknowledge my unworthiness. 

I believe it right for me to say, that when I heard of 
thy concern to visit the suffering seed in different parts of 
the Lord's heritage, I felt in my heart to bid thee God 
speed ; and the language that our valued friend, James 
Tucker, adopted, on taking leave of my dear husband and 
me, when we were going out on such a mission, was re- 
vived: lie said, "Go, and the Lord be with you. Be ye 
wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." I desire this 
may be thy experience: and 1 believe, dear friend, thou 
knowest, without my telling thee, that the Blessed Master 
will not be wanting on J I is part : but will, as our trust and 
confidence is in Uim, be ever near such as He is pleased 
to call and send on His service, will string their bow, and 
cover their head, as in the day of battle ; while such as are 
disposed to run unsent, and when there are no tidings 
ready, although they may overrun the true messengers, 
and arrive at the very place where the message is to be 
delivered, yet they are to be set aside as useless. I could 
add much, of my own true love and regard, but I feel a 

care lest 1 should exceed, and burden thy mind 

Thy friend sincerely, 

Mary Davis. 



From T. B. G. to John Wilbur. 

Newport, 25th of eighth month, 1854. 

My endeared Friend, J. Wilbur: 

It was truly kind in thee to write to me from Fall River, 
and ever since I received thy letter I have wanted to tell 



I B64.] THOM \> B. GOULD. 849 

the : variety of e;i alllir- 

tiom — bringing into fresh conflicts of spirit, and lose 

trials of the little grain of faith — have hitherto unavoid- 
ably pre\ ented me. 

e week ago lasl seventh-day, I took our two ol 
- with me to Fall River, intending to be there o 
:-day, and to bring the girls home too on second-day; 
which I did, reaching home about four o'clock p.m., safely 
and well. But about one o'clock, third-day morning, I [arry 
was taken alarmingly ill ; and about four o'clock p.m. of 
the same day. Ecroyd was even more alarmingly attacked 
with the same disease; which Doctor King positively pro- 
nounced to be clmlcra. neither is there any doubt of the 
fact. In the Bhort space of three and a hall* hoars from 

the time Ecroyd was taken, all apparent pulsation ceased, 

he became cold all over, and had every appearance of the 

very near approach of death; and this, notwithstanding 
we U8ed every means in our power or knowledge to cause 
a reaction, before the Doctor came. lie continued in this 

state, sinking lower and lower, full four hours and a half. 
We put mustard on his feet, and rubbed him with warm 
mustard-water and cayenne, wrung cloths out of hot mus- 
tard-water, c^c, but nothing would do. His eyeballs were 
fixed and turned up, with the lids half closed; and although 
he could speak, yet towards the last he could not see. We 
considered him nearly gone, and so did the physician; 
when I proposed putting him bodily into a tub of warm 
mustard-water, which we did ; and although at first it 
-reined as if he would not live to be put into the tub, yet 
in a few moments he began to show signs of sensibility; 
and the Doctor, who sat feeling for his pulse, looked up 
joyfully, and announced that he could now feel them at 
intervals, and added, " They get better and better; now I 
believe he will rally and do well." Thou canst judge of 
our feelings when, on putting him into warm blankets, we 
found him gradually becoming naturally warm, and his 
pulse quite regular, and also restored to sight. 

When dear little Ecroyd had thus revived, I turned 
towards poor Harry, who (though he was first taken with 
much more apparent severity, ami fifteen hours before his 

30 






LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18o4. 

younger brother), had seemed to be better, and, we had 
thought, was doing well : but our attention waa somewhat 
diverted from him by the very alarming state of Ecroyd, 
Harry had very much changed for the worse, and was now 
rapidly sinkio ime state of collapse ; but on put- 

ting him in a warm mustard-bath, he also pretty soon revived, 
ana they arc now both doing well. The next seventh-day 
morning, our two youngest children were taken with the 
same disease, and both very severely; but having provided 
ourselves with proper medicines, and also obtained some 
sa<l experience, the means employed were blessed in such 
a manner as to arrest its progress; and although the little 
babe is still far enough from being well, we are in hopes 
he will continue to improve. 

It is now first-day, the 27th. I had expected to leave 
home last sixth-day evening, but the dispensation of an 
all-wise Providence, herein adverted to, rendered it imprac- 
ticable and apparently improper for me to set out at that 
time. Israel Buffinton was here yesterday, and we ex- 
pect to go to New York to-morrow evening; although by 
constant watching and anxiety, as well as having my hands 
alternately in hot water and ice, I have contracted such a 
cold that I am quite a cripple from extreme lameness and 
pain in my hack. I Low I shall do I know not ; hut through 
it all, my concern has not abated; neither has the grain 
of faith, previously vouchsafed and continued, been lost 
sight of or diminished ; although I am not looking for any 
mighty work to be called for, or to be done by me. But 
if 1 can only be preserved from doing any harm, and from 
bringing reproach to the precious cause, I think I can say 
that I feel willing to suffer and to be reproached ; for I do 
know that the cause is good and worth suffering for. And 
hard as it has been and is for me to leave my beloved 
family and Friends here, yet I feel anxious to be on my 
way, not knowing how long time and opportunity for the 
accomplishment of my work, or rather, for the idling up 
of my small measure of suffering, may be lengthened out 

to me. But, whether longer or shorter, 1 do earnestly 

desire that it may be accomplished, that so a place of rest 
may be obtained at last, through unmerited mercy and 



I. I THOM \s B. GOULD. 351 

redeeming love. Ami oh ! mv dear, fatherly friend, mine 

been opened the hand of the Lord in this 

afflictive dispensation of lli- divine providence and inscru- 

i thai 1 can say, day unto day has uttered 

speech, and nighl unto nighl has shown knowledge. 

The manner in which my humble prospect was received 
and approved by our quarterly meeting, has been very 
confirming and comforting to me, although it has also in- 
creased, it' possible, my sense of awful responsibility. 
Dear Mary Davis has Bince written to me in the same 
way, and Mary Macey has Bent me a sweet m of 

unity and encouragement, and bo has Mary Barnard. 

It is very sickly here; more bo than I have ever 

known in my time. There have been more than fifty ca 
of cholera which have proved fatal, — many of them in the 
course of a few hours, — in this small town, within the last 
lour weeks. Most of these have been among the poorer 
class of natives and foreigners; yet several very sudden 
deaths have occurred among the middle and upper class 
of society, and many, very many, more of these have been 
attacked with cholera and other diseases which follow in 
its train, which have been controlled or arrested. 

The cholera hospital, to which the poor Irish and others 
have been carried. — reight or ten cases sometimes in one 
day. — is right east of our house, in those red buildings just 
beyond our premises. As many as four corpses have been 
taken from there alone in one day. several times in the last 
two week-, and buried immediately after death, without 
the least ceremony. I have been much at the hospital 
since our boys got better, from a sense of duty; and have 
done what I could to relieve the sufferings of the poor 
dying creatures, with some little success, although more 
has been made of it by the people of the town than I 
wished or merited. But they have been wholly forsaken 
by the Catholic priest, and by the self-styled Sisters of 
Charity, of which last, through the prevalence of Roman- 
ism, we have a number here. But my going to the hos- 
pital has at least had the effect to arouse the sympathies, 
and to call up the action, of other.-, who kept at a very 
safe distance before. I found them not only shamefully 



352 LIFE AND LETTERS [1854. 

neglected, but actually abused by the nurses, who w< 
paid no less than ten dollars per day for their worse than 

useless attendance. They — the nurs< ordered me out, 

when I firsl went, although I said not a word; and when 
I refused to go, they threatened to keep me there, alleging 
that such were the mayor's orders. But I told them 1 
Avnuhl report myself to the mayor, and take the conse- 
quences. I did bo immediately, who thanked me for my 
attention, and said, that no other person, except the phy- 
sicians, had interested themselves at all ; and that himself 
was worn down with the claims upon his time and atten- 
tion, caused by the prevalence of the disease, lie freely 
issued a written order for my admission, whenever I saw 
fit to go, and required the keepers or nurses to treat my 
suggestions with attention. The next morning, I went up 
there again, without showing my order; when they sought 
to drive me out, telling me that it was in violation of the 
mayor's orders, and that thev did not want me there: to 

which last I assented, but the first I denied. Pretty soon 

« 

one of them asked me if I had got liberty of the mayor. 
I told him I had, and more than that also The 

result was their discharge, and the obtaining of better men, 
and more skilful and conscientious nurses, at a more reason- 
able price. But the mayor was not to be blamed; for at 
the first the panic was so great, that none but the in- 

reckless and worthless could be got 

Farewell : and do remember me for good, in your nearest 
approaches to the Lord. 

Tiios. B. Gould. 



To Martha S. Gould. 

Baltimore, 30th ul' 8th mo., 1854. 
Ml DEAR WlFB AND ( 'HILDRBN : 

DearRoberl Scotton came in [to Philadelphia] 
from Frankford early in the day. on purpose to meet us, 

and had just left W. II.'s. when we reached there. We 
] assed him in the Street, and I pointed him out to Israel, 



L854.] TH0MA8 B. GOULD, 

although I did aol know who he was, and still less though! 
Ms coming to the city to meet as. Sot, like Paul al 
the Three Taverns, it furnished a Fresh occasion to thank 
the Lord and take fresh courage. He came to William's 
early this morning, and freely wenl with us to the West- 
ern meeting; which was large and very quiet, no1 a dog 
moving his tongue, although some in thai nature were 
there; and Roberl Scotton spoke of the meeting as being 
to his entire satisfaction, and also, in his judgment, a re- 
markably favored one, notwithstanding very close things 
indeed were given me to deliver. 

[Alluding to an individual who had been 
reached hy his testimony <m that occasion, he says :] So 
thou seest, my Master was pleased to give me favor in the 
heart of one stranircr at least; and not onlv so. but Ho 
surely did fulfil I lis promise to me, which I received before 
I asked for my certificate, namely: u I will show thee a 
token for good, that thine enemies may see it and be 
ashamed ;" ami also, "I will go along with thee, and help 
thee, and make thy way for thee." .... 

I enjoyed the ride through the country here very much, 
especially as my mind was clothed with a feeling of pre- 
cious quietness, peace, and thankfulness, beyond what I 
have ever known; and in the desires raised for my own 
preservation, thou, my dear heart, and all at home, were 
sweetly included. Farewell ! 

Thine entirely, 

T. B. Gould. 



To William Hodgson. 

Colkbaik, Belmont Co., Ohio, 9th mo., 2d, 18.34. 
My very dear Brother: 

Thy letter to brother Joshua did not get here until 
some time after we did; so Ave hired a two-horse carriage, 
and came up from Wheeling, getting here about ten o'clock 
yesterday morning, weary and dirty enough, I can assure 
thee; but my heart was filled with thankfulness, inasmuch 
as my good and gracious Master was not only pleased to 
renew His promise to me (when, as we commenced going 

30* 



354 LIFE AND LETTERS 01 [185 I . 

up the mountains, my faith began to fail as to our living 
to gel over them), thai we should be preserved, bo that no 
evil or accident should befall as, but also to fulfil it. at 
least as to the outward. This morning, brother Joshua 
thought best to take us to the boarding-school before meet- 
ing : where we met with a cordial welcome from the super- 
intendent, N. P. EL, and his wife. The extreme heat of 
tlu i weather exceeds anything 1 have ever before known, 
both day and night : and it has been bo, all the way and 
all the time, since we left Baltimore, except just on the 

top of the Alleghany Mountain-. 

Joseph Hobson was truly kind and open, 
Baying he was right glad to Bee me hero; and so was dear 
honest old Robert Holloway, who is a lively, old-fashioned 
minister, though very much despised. They two went 
with me unflinchingly to [the select] meeting. 

Not a word was uttered by any one, until 
W. Kennard proposed that the clerk should open the 
meeting; which he did, and proceeded to read the minutes 
of several of the strangers present ; after which he added, 
"There is also on the table a minute or certificate from 
New England, and I am ready to query whether the meeting 
will not pursue the same course with regard to it, which 
has been taken in former years." .... [After the 
usual minute was made, in regard to the certificates, which 
had been read] J. Kenworthy inquired whether the other 
minute [or certificate] which the clerk had referred to, was 
from a branch of New England Yearly Meeting with which 
this yearly meeting formerly corresponded, or whether it 
came from the " Smaller Body," &c. The clerk did not 
condescend an explanation. Ann Taylor, Esther French, 
Edith Griffith, and many others, male and female, broke 
out into a continuous Btring of abuse against the k * Smaller 
Body," and the presumptuous but apparently unknown 
individual who had intruded himself upon that meeting; 
making use repeatedly of very opprobrious epithets, some 
of them vehemently calling for the name of the intruder : 
which, however, neither the clerk nor any other person 

present thought lit to give them. ... I plainly saw 

that, under the circumstances, silence would be decidedly 



!. ) THOMAS B, GOULD. 

my best \ j e< I 1"' ] 1 ftlled upon to say, " thai ii 
much as the question had been asked, whether the certifi- 
cate referred to came from a branch of Now England 
¥early Meeting, with which this meeting formerly corres- 
,. lf<l. I thought it right that both the meeting and the 
individual should know that it did, and thai moreover the 
certificate was endorsed by a quarterly meeting, which, 
after a careful and apparently impartial examination of 
the whole Bubject, of the unhappy separation which had 
taken place iii New England, including the ground and 
cause of it, the yearly meeting of Friends in Philadelphia 
had solemnly decided t<> he the ancient and regularly esta- 
blished quarterly meeting of Rhode Island;' 1 and 1 added, 
that "this decision was duly authenticated, and had also 
been printed and published' 1 [as J, K. expressed thai he 
had not before been aware of the fact]. ... I saw 
how it was with some, who really, 1 have no doubt, felt 
much sympathy for me, but for tear of adding fuel to the 
fire which the Ourneyites kept up, let them have it their 
own way without a word in my favor — making a sacrifice 
of me, rather than prolong the discussion, or further en- 
danger the quiet and pea.ee of the meeting. But my good 
Master stood by me and helped me, bearing up my head 
above the billows ; so that I could even hold up my head, 
and sit very quietly and patiently through it all, not feel- 
ing in the least moved or disheartened by it. because He 
had, measurably at least, prepared me for it before I left 
my home. . . . The vituperation of the Gurncyitcs 
was [at length] diverted from my shoulders considerably, 
and turned upon Philadelphia Yearly Meeting ; at which 
I was not sorry, as it afforded me some relief: and all op- 
position to my sitting, finally ceasing, the clerk proceeded 
with the ordinary business. This seemed to me to exhibit 
a very low, weak state of things 

The meeting for sufferings was held in the afternoon, 
at three o'clock ; which, after all, and under the circum- 
stances, I thought it best for us to attend, being also ad- 
vised to do so, by several Friends 

After meeting many Friends gathered around us. and 
seemed right glad to see us 



356 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

First-day, I have been here at Mount Pleasant all day, 

sitting in silence and astonishment at the captivity of this 
people. In the morning meeting, E. I\ <«. stood op early 
— proceeded to denounce one — guilty of unforgiven sins of 
the deepest dye, warned him of the danger of his being 

suddenly cut <>{]'. \e [See letter to -I. AY., 

E. F., and <\ P., of 9th mo., 9th.] 

Second-day evening. There was no attempt made to 
keep us out of the meeting, as was expected, this morn- 
ing. 

B. Hoyle opened the meeting, and the 

assistant-clerk rend the report- of the quarterly meetings, 
and, with the clerk, the minutes of all the strangers pre- 
sent, except my own and that of I. Buffinton. Benja- 
min even called for such minutes as Israel Buffinton >, 
that is. for such as not being for members of the select 
meeting, had not been laid on the table by the clerk 
thereof; and in such a way as to render our sitting there, 
unaccredited, likely to straiten us additionally, and to be 
noticed by others. Then opened such a tirade of abuse, 
as never fell to my lot before ; there was a deal of it, in- 
termixed with some little censure of the clerk, for having 
proceeded so far with the business as he had done, while I 
was present; — all which I bore in silence, until they began 
to reflect darkly on me, for not only having produced no 
certificate, but also for not having explained the reason why 
I had not. I then thought it was time for me to speak ; 
and accordingly stated, in substance, that I not only had 
yielded to come here under a deep sense and clear convic- 
tion of religious duty, after having turned the fleece, and 
proved it, both wet and dry, but that 1 had also received 
the lull unity and concurrence of the monthly and quar- 
terly meeting- of Rhode Island; that these had been duly 
laid before the first sitting of the Select yearly meeting; 
but that, owing to the manifestation of a similar feeling 
there, to what had been shown here, and the regard which 
the clerk of the select meeting paid, as I supposed, to the 
feelings of those of opposite sentiments, and in order to 
prevent such an exhibition there as had been made of op- 
posing sentiments here, they had not been produced; not- 



1 85 I. | THOMAS B. aOTJLD. 

withstanding they came from b quarterly meeting which 
had been decided to be the true Rhode [sland Quar- 
terly Meeting, after careful and impartial investigati 

the whole subject, by a yearly meeting which has 
been considered to be one of the most solid and 
weighty yearly meetings ra the world.* I also declared 
thai my companion, [srael Buffinton, was duly furnished 
with a minute of concurrence from Swanzey Monthly 
Meeting ; and how the separation took place there : who 
were the separatists ; and as for what had been charged 

pecting my disownment, that it had only been done 
by a body of separatists; for I had always been a member 
of Rhode [sland Monthly Meeting of Friends, and there- 
fore was nol an intruder, but had a right to a Beat. I 
said considerable, and was on my feet three times I think : 
which I found necessary to 3o, as they called some of my 
statements in question. But as I further explained and 
proved my statements, they soon began to call on their 
own partisans to give over; and finally dropped me 
almost entirely, and turned upon the clerk ; who, to save 
himself' or the meeting, lowered the ground too much, I 
thought, for his own safety or that of the cause ; telling 
them they might make the meeting as select as they 
chose, provided they did it consistently with our prin- 
ciples or discipline, and did not appeal to the civil autho- 
rity : — and I, said he, will not object to it. lie repeated 
this several times : hut it did him no good, for they would 
not let him go on with the business while we sat there, 
which he was evidently disposed to do : and so, after sit- 
ting four hours in this way, the meeting adjourned. The 
representatives met after dinner, and had a very stormy 
time, some being determined that B. Iloyle should not be 
clerk any longer ; and so fourteen representatives, out of 
forty-two, determined to carry in the name of Jonathan 
Binns for clerk, and James Bruff for assistant-clerk. 
The question was asked by some " middle" man, whether, 
if T. B. G. and I. B. were excluded, they would then 
consent to have Benjamin Iloyle's name carried forward ; 

* Philadelphia. See its ' ; Report on the Division in New England." 



I. II i: AND LETTERS "T [185 !. 

but they answered, No ! — he had done enough, beside 
this, to disqualify him, and it would make no difference at 
all. 

Third-day. This morning 1 went to the second and last 
sitting of the select yearly meeting. There was not the 
least sign or word of dissatisfaction with my sitting there- 
in, Bhown by any one, K. P. <J. however delivered another 
loud ami pointed call to repentance for unutterable sins. 

The yearly meeting convened at eleven o'clock 

It was again Bupposed that they would forcibly keep us 
out of this, the second sitting of the yearly meeting ; but 
no such thing was done or attempted. As Boon as the 
meeting was opened, one Jabez Coulson said lie was 
directed by a large part of the representatives to prop* 
th" name of Jonathan Binns for clerk: which was directly 
united with by many, in quick succession ; when Nathan 
Hall said, he was requested to inform the meeting, that 
the representatives had been together, but were unable to 
agree upon any names to oiler for clerk and assistant. 
The usual minute for the continuance of the old clerks 
was proposed to he made, and Btrongly Urged by Friends. 

But there were some not disposed to be put 

down at all. although many of their own party halted 
long. It was, I should think, nearly two hours, after 
they began to urge them to go, before they could get 
their new clerks to the table, and it was some time after 
this, before he ventured to make and to read the minute 
of their appointment. 

After a deal of time had been wasted in listening to 
them, and their many and high charges against B. Hoyle 
(who has gained nothing in any way by his weak endeavors 

to compromise matters with them), and Philadelphia 
Yearly Meeting, and myself, Friends finally adjourned 
to ten o'clock to-morrow (fourth-day morning), and left 
them sitting in the house, where they remained two hours 
longer, making >i\ in all. I never uttered a word during 
either this or the select meeting to-day : hut it Seemed 

more than they could well hear (or indeed some others 

either), even to see me sitting there, though clothed in sack- 
cloth and ashes 



!. ] THOM \> B. GOULD, 859 

A ;il ire gone. I lia\ e ne\ er j el had quite 

trying a Bervice ae this to pass through; and yet I ha 
not been permitted to doubt the rectitude of my comii 

\jb we passed ou1 of the meeting-] . and I 

red only about one-fourth of the whole number left 

behind, it did feel to me as it* "the people were Btill too 

many." .... B. BEoyle plainly declared to the Beparar 

3 to-day, that New England Yearly Meeting hada right 

suspend the article of <>ur discipline respecting the ap- 
pointment of clerks, and fully admitted the larger body to 
be the yearly meeting ! When he Baw that it did no good, 
but much harm every way, he declared that he had re- 
peatedly done violence to his own feelings to please them ; 
hut this helped him m> more than the other: ami it is pos- 
sible he may in time learn that honesty is the best policy 
after all. 

All this, and much, very much more, we have 

Been, felt, and Buffered in silence. But my Master told me 
this morning, that He would fight for us. and we should 
hold our peace; and I have obeyed Him herein, although 
many Friends evidently wonder at my silence, and others, 

I believe, are equally afraid of me 

T. B. Gould. 

From Nathan Hall to William Hodgson. 

Barrisville, Harrison Co., Ohio, 
9th month, 11th, 185 I. 

Dear Friend : 

I have just returned from a meeting at Harrisville, ap- 
pointed by our mutually beloved friend, Thomas B. Gould ; 
who requested that I should give thee some account of his 
getting along in these parts, his engagements and present 
indisposition preventing him from writing to as many of 
his dear friends as he would wish to. 

I know not whether thou hast had a letter from him since 
his arrival here, or not; but suppose thou hast had some 
account of him, in connection with the separation that has 
recently taken place in our yearly meeting. Information 
so received may give an unfair statement of existing facts, 
as it is reported, even in this vicinity, that he was the cause 



360 LIFH AND LETTERS OF [185 !. 

of the separation; and some hard things arc said of him, 
both in public and private, relative thereto. I am not 
about to give an account of the separation (as thou hast 
doubtless had diver- more full relation- of it than my pre- 
sent purpose or limits will permit), further than delates to 
our friend, T. B. Gould. His certificate, with a number 
of others, was produced to our select meeting on seventh- 
day. The meeting pursued its usual course, which is, to 
read no such documents from any portion of the Society in 
iv England. Of course it was not produced to the yearly 
meeting on second-day morning; but it being known that 
he and companion were present, it was strongly urged by 
the Grurneyites, that no business Bhould he done till the 
meeting was made .-elect. This they made the principal 
bone of contention during most of that sitting. But it 

O I 

was several times distinctly stated by a part of the repre- 
sentatives, who met in the evening to propose the names 
of Friends for clerk and assistant, that they would not 
agree to the name of 13. II. for clerk; that lie had "dis- 
qualified himself for that service years ago;" and that, 
rejecting T. B. <i. and companion, would not change their 
intention of offering other names, which they then pro- 
posed. So that it would be doing injustice to New Eng- 
land Friends, to say that they were the cause of the sepa- 
ration. And even if it were so, surely it would have been 
a very frivolous excuse for such a desperate course as was 
pursued. 

W. and C. Evans, and our New England 

Friends, were of course all the strangers that remained 
with US. The latter had not much vocal service in the 
meeting, no doubt very sensibly feeling somewhat trammel- 
led by the circumstance of their not being fully acknow- 
ledged. They were ;u meeting at Concord yesterday. I 
thought Thomas was favored, and very much so at the one 
appointed in our meeting-house to-day. It was compo 
partly of non-professors^ and professors of various kinds, 
Borne that seldom attend any of our meetings; and being 

nearly all entire Strangers to him, he had no outward 
mean- of knowing their condition; yet I think it was as 

appropriately spoken to, as 1 remember to have heard on 



1854.] THOMAS B. 001 i.i'. 

1 think I never heard the comi ing, 

and F our S:i\ iour, * ith I [is mediatorial oflG 

rly brought to view al any time; declaring wl 
He had done for us without us, and showing the ne< 
of receiving Him in his second coming, or spiritual appear- 
ance; and that the first was unavailing without the I 
He seemed fearfully and awfully impressed with the Btate 
of some present, and labored earnestly, and may it be 
effectively, for their restoration. This is more than pru- 
dence would dictate to say to a minister, but I have only 
said it of him, and thou wilt see that he is not hurt by it. 

He has a meeting to-morrow at Flushing, and 

next day at ( ruernsey. ..... 

I am, with love, thy friend, 

Nathan Hall. 

From T. 1>. Gh to John Wilbur, E. Foster, and 

C. Perry. 

Coleraix, Bblmokt Co., Ohio, 

9th to 19th of 9th mo., 1854. 

My dear Friend? : 

The yearly meeting concluded about eleven, a.m., and 
avc have been allowed to sit without any one (except those 
who have seceded) objecting thereto; although it has been 
very manifest that our presence was quite as galling to 
niiiic that remained behind, as to those who left. We 
have had a most trying week of it indeed. However, no 
objection whatever was made to our sitting in the meeting 
for sufferings. . . . The same morning I went to the 
Belect meeting. . . . There were many strangers pre- 
sent with minutes, who all went with the Beceders except 
W. E. ; but their certificates were all read, and minuted 
as being satisfactory, and their company acceptable. 

Dear J. II., who kindly took me into the 

meeting and into the upper gallery, did -peak once or 
twice, to express his desire that the meeting might be 
allowed to proceed quietly with its business; which it was 
finally allowed to do in my presence, although I was singled 
out, and preached to, # and prayed for. in the most pointed 

31 



862 LIPH AND LKTTBRS OP [1854. 

manner imaginable. The nexl day [first-day] in the 
:i public meeting, in the morning, E. P. G., very early, 
and before the meeting was near gathered, commenced 
speaking, in whal seemed i' ( >r a time to be a most loving 
and peaceable manner ; but after having sufficiently daubed 
her own partisans with untempered mortar, and jried 
" peace, peace/ 5 where there was no peace, Bhe singled 
out an individual then present, who was "going about 
sowing discord among brethren/ 1 She was %ure there 
erne, and thought there might possibly be more than one; 
but one there was of this description, who was guilty of 
the most "abominable and unforgiven sins;' 9 describing 
them, or attempting to do so, but in a vague and indefi- 
nite manner. However, they were of an unpardonable 
nature, and Bhe asserted that Bhe was divinely commis- 
sioned to pronounce woes and judgments upon the devoted 
head of this " poor, miserable sinner," and to say that 
unless very speedily repented of, it would be forever too 
late, this being the very last call, and she the favored in- 
strument of its delivery, and also of the malediction, which 
was this: that they u would sink his guilty soul down, 
down, down, to the lowest hell, where the WOrm dieth not, 

and the lire is not quenched," &c. ! This Bhe repeated 
three several times, and then referred to Ezekiel's vision 
of the image of jealousy, and the chambers of imagery, 
with the abominations committed therein by the ancients 
of Israel, repeating in the course of this division of her 
Bubject, nearly the whole of the eighth chapter of EzekieL 
Her appearance was splendidly delusive, seeming very 
like her who sat "as a queen and no widow," vainly and 
wantonly supposing that she Bhould Bee no sorrow. . . . 
lint I never felt <>r sat a meeting myself more quietly or 
peacefully in my whole life, feeling an evidence in myself 

that these things were all false a- applied to me; and 

my L r o<>d and L r raei<>u> Master Btanding by me. and 
strengthening and comforting me, yea, ami upholding 
me also by His Spirit, in a manner altogether beyond 
what I can express \s lor me I had nothing to 

do, hut to B6t an example of >ileiiee. 

. . , In the last sitting of the -elect meeting, m> oh- 



1854, | Tih'M Lfi B. 001 i.i>. 

was made to my sitting, nor any allusion whatever 
le to me, except bj E, P. I i.. who declared that the 
day of my visitation, or of mercy and grace to me (as I 
understood her) was extended beyond what fehe had previ- 
1 v thought or seen, although it was nevertheless extremely 
doubtful whether 1 would repent : and it' not, down, down, 
down, I must speedily g The answers to the queries in 
the seled yearly meeting, and the BUtnmary thereof, were 
managed (with one exception >. so as to represent that things 

re in harmony and unity ; of which took special and 

most satirical notice. J. Kenworthy and others had, in 
the former Bitting asked B. II. &c, if they really thought 
that the "smaller body/ 1 and its members were in the 
right, why they did not say so, and openly acknowledge 
us; for. said he, and with great effect upon them, I 
k * Friends, there is but a right and a wrong : there is but 
truth and error !" I sat among them in the select meet- 
ing with my lips wholly sealed, except as previously stated, 
but beholding with my inward eve, how the potsherds of 
the earth dashed one against another, and the abomina- 
tions committed by the elders of Israel in their secret 
chambers of imag'ery, even such as have been accounted 
as the ancients of them ! . . . The division immediately 
followed this sitting of the select meeting. 

On second-day toorning B. II. had encouraged 

BUch as were there without minutes (such minutes as had 
been introduced and read from the Belect meeting), to ex- 
plain the ground or cause of their presence; and 

had accordingly done so, and several others; Israel Buffin- 
ton's minute had also been laid on the table, and no notice 
taken of it whatever: when the Gurneyites, having pre- 
viously said abundance against our sitting in the meeting, 
without any notice having been taken of it (except that when 
they requested all such as were not members to withdraw, 
and insisted on our doing so. dear old Robert Holloway 
said lie did not know of any not members, or who had not 
a right to Bit, being present), oommenced calling directly 
upon us, to know, if we had certificates, why wo had not 
produced them; and if wo had no credentials, they re- 
quested us to make a verbal statement of the occasion and 



864 i.H'i: AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

circumstances of our coming and being there, &c. T now 
fell tlif time had come for me to Bay, "that I had come 
amongst them under a solemn and convincing sense of re- 
ligions dm v ; the concern having long rested with much 
weight upon my mind, and this time having been clearly 
pointed out, as the proper one to come here in, after turn- 
ing the fleece again and again, and proving the religious 
rectitude of the concern, both wet and dry. And not only 
so, but mv concern was fully united with by Rhode Island 
Monthly Meeting of Friends, of which I had always been 
a member, and I was furnished with its certificate, and the 
endorsement of Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, duly 
signed by its clerks; which quarterly meeting, after a 
careful investigation of the whole subject, bad been decided 
by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to be the true and regu- 
larly established Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting. These 
certificates were duly presented to the select yearly meet- 
ing held here the day before yesterday ; but owing to the 
manifestation of a similar spirit of opposition, to what we 
have seen here, and from a feeling of tenderness in the 
clerk (as I suppose) towards those of opposing Bentiments, 

they were neither read there nor introduced here. How- 
ever, Friends, you may rely upon it. that, after what has 
been said here. I would not remain in this house another 
moment, if I had not felt it my duty in the first place to 

come, and in the next place to remain in this meeting, and 
if I did not also know that I have a right so to do. So 
that I wi8h it to he distinctly understood, that I do not 
consider myself a.- an intruder, neither did I ever intrude 
myself into any place where I had not a right to go. I 
do not ask for the privilege of silting here as a favor. 1 

claim it as a right." I said considerably more in regard 
to [srael BuffintOU and his certificate, and its having come 
" from the ancient Monthly Meeting of Swanzey, from which 
those who now constitute the larger body in Now England 
first separated themselves, leaving the regular clerk at the 
table, and the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Swanzey in 
the houde, in the regular transaction of its business: that 
the same class of persons afterwards separated themseh 
from Rhode [sland Quarterly Meeting, received the re- 



■I.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 

ports from th< Mid spurious Monthly Meeting of Swan- 

. and fully identified themselves therewith. It v. 

te yearly meetinc called the 'larger body. 1 
of which bo much has been said. But, Frien Is, they are 
a body of separatists from the order and discipline, as well 
as from the principles and doctrines, of Friends. I>y these 
I freely acknowledge that 1 have been disowned: but I 
never was, in any manner. OU1 of unity with or disowned 

by Friends, as so often stated in this meeting, nor until 
after the separation had occurred from Rhode Island Quar- 
terly Meeting; which a yearly meeting, that has been con- 
sidered one of the most solid and weighty yearly meetings 

in the world (tli.it of London not excepted), has clearly, 

and fully, and unequivocally decided to be the ancient and 

rularly established Quarterly Meeting of Friends in 

Rhode Island." Hereupon the most violent Gurneyites, 

even those who had Stated that they were able to prove my 

disownment, and held up the written documents which they 
had in their hands, making a flourish of them, began to 
say, in different parts of the house, that they were fully 
satisfied that it would never do to discuss this question in 
that public manner, although they were willing to meet me 
in private! " But," said they, u Friends, we are losing 
ground; let us say less, and act more firmly." And drop- 
ping me, they called upon the clerk to make the meeting 
-elect, saying they were satisfied he had it in his power to 
do bo; and that if he had not given us his countenance, 

and manifested a disposition to go on with the business in 
our presence (blaming him, and rebuking him sharply for 

having gone as far with the business in our presence as he 
had), we would neither have been there, nor persisted in 
our resolution to sit there, after all that had been said 
against it by them. Whereupon the clerk began to clear 
himself from the charge of accountability, (dearly showing 
them that he did not want us there; which had a tendency 
to manifest what spirit he was of. to some honest Friends 
wdio had been greatly blinded and deceived. But the Gur- 
neyites would not accept it, and cried out the more vehe- 
mently against him, saying he had wholly and previously 
disqualified himself for acting as clerk. B« II. then tried 

31* 



366 



LIFE AND LETTERS OF 



[1864, 



more fully to clear himself of as, and threw as more com- 
pletely into the hands of the ( l-urneyites, who gnashed upon 

u- with their teeth, almost <>r quite literally, and seemed 
ready to destroy us. But 1>. II. said again and again, 
** Friends, you may make the meeting as Belect as you 
please, and I will not object to it, provided you do bo con- 
sistently with our principles, and do not appeal to the civil 
magistrate." Bui they paid no intention to his earnest 
efforts to Bave himself, no matter at what cost, and charged 
him with treachery, &c, more vehemently than ever, 
elearly showing that they had no confidence whatever in 
him ; and who could wonder? I then purposely said, that 
the clerk was in no way responsible for our presence; that 
he had been scrupulously careful not to give us the least 
encouragement; and that it would be great injustice to him 
to charge him therewith ; that, as regarded myself, I had 
no wish t<> deceive any one; I meant to he an honest man, 
and was willing that every tub should stand upon its own 
bottom. This evidently displeased the clerk : hut lie 
showed his duplicity still further hy saying, c * Friends, you 
must Bee how that the individual has assumed the whole 

responsibility of his being here to himself/' This was not 

true: I had done no such thing: hut I elearly saw and 
understood his design to make me appear ridiculous, and 

presumptuous also. But an adjournment being proposed, 
in order to give them an opportunity to make the meeting 
Belect, I let it pass, biding my time. Between this and 
the next Bitting, no one attempted any private labor with 
us, as had been proposed, to keep us out : neither was the 
least impediment thrown in the way of our going into the 
house. At the next Bitting the separation occurred. . . 
On fourth-day, a committee was appointed to prepare a 

statement of the facts of the .reparation. On fifth-day 
afternoon, a paper was brought in and laid on the table, 

purporting to have been prepared by the committee. . . . 

This narrative of facts was read early in the meeting, and 
united with, without much, if any, objection hy any one; 
hut it brought me under great distress, a- 1 foresaw, when 

B. II. wrested my word- (when I had merely exonerated 

him from all responsibility touching our presence) into a 



185 I. ] THOU 18 r-. GOULD, 

presumptuous assumption of the responsibility myself; 
which I had neither thought, said, nor intended, but, on 
the contrary, had expressly referred the responsibility to 
Him who brought me under the concern to come, and who 
required me to stay, and had made me willing to Buffer for 
Hia name and cause 9 sake ; whose name and cause [, at 
the same time, declared to be exceeding precious to me, 
90 than any other consideration whatever; which 
declaration was also mercifully attended with a convincing 
evidence of its truth, which not even the Gurneyitea could 
gainsay or wholly resist, and some of them openly acknow- 
ledged it at the time. I > 1 1 I said not a word now. until 
after they had gone through all the queries and answers, 
and we had had abundance of what is called preach- 
ing, from . , , and others. Near the c] 

of the meeting, I stood up, and said, in substance, that I 
had never considered it a light matter to utter a word, or 
to occupy a moment of time, in BUch an assembly as that : 
but under a serious consideration of the nature of the 
document which had been read early in that Bitting, I felt 
a necessity laid upon me to Bay, that if that part of it 
which stated that I had assumed the whole responsibility 
of my presence in that meeting, could be so altered as to 
say, that the individual referred to had fully exonerated 
the clerk from all responsibility respecting his presence, it 
would l»e trulv relieving to mv feelings, and also in accord- 
ance with the truth. 1 also appealed to them with some 
effect, in the language. "All things whatsoever ve would 
that men should do to you. do ye even SO to them," &C, : 
and added a doubt, as this circular was to be appended to 
all their epistles, whether that part of it which stated that 
the clerk had repeatedly expressed his entire willingn 
that those who objected to our sitting in the yearly meet- 
ing should make ir as select as they pleased, provided they 
did it in accordance with our principles, and did not appeal 
to the civil magistrate, — I meekly expressed a fear, whe- 
ther the retaining of this part of the statement would be of 
an// & r ice to the Cleric, and that it might injure his repu- 
tation and lower his standing with the onlv class of Friends. 
in the different yearly meetings, who could be expected to 



LIFE AND LETTERS OE [1854. 

advocate the reading of the epistles which were to be sent 
forth, bearing his signature as the Clerk of Ohio yearly 
Meeting: and so it might seriously affect the decision 
which would have to be made between the reception of 
their epistles and those of the separatists; and also the 
cause and reputation of truth, which L plainly declared 
was of tar more value than any personal considerations 
whatever; and that I could truly say, that I was quite 
willing, bo far as I was personally concerned, to be of no 
reputation, either here or elsewhere; <>r, in other words, 
" L am willing to Buffer for His name and cause 1 sake, who 
is everlastingly worthy: I have no desire. Friends, to be 
in any hotter repute than the truth is, amongst you!" 
This brought great solemnity over the meeting; very many 
Friends wept much. . . . The document was referred 
back to the committee for alteration and amendment, . . 
. . This paper was brought into the last sitting of the 
yearly meeting. ... It appeared to have been very 
materially altered throughout: the most objectionable pas- 
sage, respecting myself, was altered in conformity with my 
suggestion or request, bo as to say that I fully exonerated 
the clerk from the responsibility of our presence. In other 
parts <>f this paper, too, where we had, in the first essay, 
been spoken of merely as individuals, we were now spoken 
of as Kriomls. members of the Society. &c. — and in other 
respects, too, with more consideration and respect. It 
was then sent into the women's meeting, to he entered on 
their minutes; hut they were unwilling to have it go upon 
their records, by reason of the expressions of I>. II. 
being Btill retained therein, respecting his willingness that 
we should hi' excluded from the meeting, cVc. Very general 

and decided objections were made hy the women Friends 
to this part of the document, and it resulted in their send- 
ing two of their number into the men's meeting, to inform 
it how very unsatisfactory it was t<» them. . . . They 
both spoke with great effect, in the men's meeting, in our 
favor, and against those actions ami expressions, respect- 
ing as; Baying that women Friends were deeply grieved, 

that the clerk Bhould have BO >pokeli respecting the two 
Friends from New England j that he had no right BO to 



ha ken, and oughl no1 to have don< B. I !. 

made some little effort to defend himself, bi thai 

one of the individuals had expressed himself ed with 

it. Oilier- said, ii was merely a statement of fad 

dd n"i noit be altered. Finally, dear [srael Buffinton 

id, that, although he deeply regretted the clerk'- having 

Baid so, at the time, yet, as he did repeatedly so expi 

himself, it could not now be helped, and he felt satisfied, 

willing, it Bhould stand as it did. This was the first 

and last time that [srael Baid anything in the yearly 

meeting, and it was well-timed indeed : he also had dis- 

nment to see that the retaining of this part would do 

B. II. and his party far more harm than it would do us. 

And I was, I confess, astonished at the blindness which 

must have overtaken poor , or otherwise he must have 

en it. 

What Israel Baid, Beemed to satisfy the women, and they 
returned directly to the women's meetii The essa 

of epistles to the other yearly meetings had all been read 
before the women came in; and after they were agreed to, 
I let Friends know, " that I thought it right for me to ac- 
knowledge, that I had listened to the reading of them with 
much interest, and had truly considered it a privilege to 
be present : but that I had also been led to consider, that 
if these epistles were really and truly the language of the 
Spirit to the several churches to which they were addressed, 
the matter of their reception or rejection was in such case 
a very Berious one; inasmuch as they who refuse to receive 
whatsoever and whom -never the Lord sends, refuse to 
receive Him, and they that refuse to receive Him, refuse 
to receive Him that sent Him." After somewhat more in 
this line, I let Friends know my own firm and renewed 
belief, however it might be. as to the matter of their recep- 
tion. " that there would be no necessary cause of discour- 
nent. if they should not be received and acknowledged 
by some of the yearly meetings with which this yearly meet- 
ing had heretofore corresponded; that we were living in si 
dark and cloudy day: that the spirit of the world and of 
the age had so blinded the eves and hardened the hearts of 
many up and down amongst Friend- as a people, that it 



870 Lli'i: AND LETTERS of [1854: 

seemed as if they would ool or could uol believe, although 
a man should declare the truth unto them; thai this was a 
spirit of unbelief in and departure from the truth ; that 
Bucb was the blindness which had happened unto Israel, 
thai it Beemed to me there was greal need, even for some 
who had been eminently gifted and deeply experienced, to 
be so humbled under the ajighty hand of the Lord, as to 
availingly put up the petition for an increase of faith; 
that bo they mighl be able to adopt the language, Lord, 1 
believe, help thou mine unbelief; and that their eyes mighl 
be opened to Bee the way and work of the Lord in this our 
day and time, which was a dark and stormy time; bul the 
darkness and the light were, in a sense, alike unto Jlim ; 
lie had His way in the sea. and J lis path in deep wat« 

and his footsteps were not known, except to such as were 
made willing to follow Him even to prison and to judg- 
ment ; thai clouds and darkness were round about Him, 
bu1 righteousness and judgment were the habitation, of His 

throne. That [ did verily believe it was at least by Ik- 
permission, thai things were being so shaken ; and that, if I 
was nol mistaken in my feelings, the language was applica- 

hle, * Yei once more I shake not the earth Only, hut also 

heaven,' and thai everything that could be shaken would be 
shaken, that that which was immovable might remain : 
yea. that lie would * overturn, overturn, overturn,' until 
He came whose right it was to rule and to reign over all, 
whose power was in itself over all the powers of darkm 
and who would yet, I firmly and rcnewedly believed, he 
magnified in the Bight of those wh<> had in different degr< 
become forgetful and distrustful of his power. But it was 

better to trust in the name and power of the Lord, than 

to put confidence in princes ; for the Land) and His believing 

followers WOUld have the Victory in the end, and Mich as 

rejected Him, ami turned hack from following Him, would 
he confounded and brought to nought/ 1 But 1 cannot 
attempt to give even the substance of what was spoken, 

any further \ Solemn pau>e eii>ued, during 

which, Ann Branson and 1\ Fiflher came in: and I did 

rejoice that my gracious Master had raised me up before 

they came, and showed me a token for good, which mine 



I. j TEOMi 90ULD. 81 1 

miea had Been and fell ale >. b< I do beli< 

somewhat ashamed. 

\\ . Kennard, on taking my hand at the i 
the lasf Bittii arly meeting, told me emphati- 

cally, thai he had near and good unity with me and my 
testimony in that meeting, and also in the public meet 
<>n fifth-day. Bill notwithstanding the unity and near 
fellowship of very many Friends, B. II. undertook to lay 
an injunction upon them, no! to appoint meetings for me 
at all. Be professed a willingness that I should attend 
them as they cane- in coarse, but declared that it would be 
going beyond the yearly meeting, to appoint meetings, 
rtificate had not been read therein nor re- 
ceived thereby. But dear Robert Holloway, a sound, old- 
fashioned minister, who with Joseph Hobson, a valuable 
elder, had Btood unflinchingly by me the whole week, told 

them this Would not do; and BO called the ministers and 

elders together at the School (after we had left for brother 
Joshua's), and said to them, "Friends, if that dear Friend 

from New England feels a concern to appoint a meeting in 
any place, and calls the select members and overseers 

;ether, and lavs it before them, and they unite with it, 
who has power to say no, seeing they are the proper au- 
thority, according to our discipline, to decide upon such a 
concern V All present acknowledged it was so, but B. II. 
and J. E., neither of whom said anything. Robert then 
said, "There is no question, then, but Thomas can appoint 
meetings, if the select members and overseers agree to it:" 
and he was answered in the affirmative, except by the two 
who remained silent. Robert then rode several miles out 
of his way, to brother Joshua's, to inform us hereof, and to 
encourage me to attend to my prospect faithfully, as very 
many other Friends all over the yearly meeting had done 
before 

The meeting at Harrisville, on second-day, was large 
and much favored, people flocking to it the more, I sup- 
pose, on account of the unwonted notoriety winch the 
Grurneyites, and some others not known by that name, 
have given us. At the conclusion. X. II. expressed to 
me his full unity and entire satisfaction ; and encouraged 



872 LIFE AND LETTKKS OF | L864. 

me to keep steadily to my prospect, regardless of gain- 
savers. Indeed there were many tears shed at this meet- 
ing; great, stoat-looking man, not a member, (for 

ueral notice was given) was so broken, and shed so many 
tears, through the melting power of Truth, which did mer- 
cifully overshadow us in a remarkable manner, that they 
literally ran down his cheeks and dropped in such profu- 
sion as to make a large wel -pot on the floor of the house 
where ho sat. But I relate it only by way of acknow- 
ledgment of the goodness and nierey of my good and 
gracious Master, who lias hitherto fulfilled the promise 
which lie made to me, before I left my/) wn habitation, 
that lie would Stand by nie and help me ; and lie hath 

performed His promise to me, in a manner that has been 

marvellous in my own eye.-, and as I humbly trust to the 
Strengthening of many, and to the promotion of J lis own 
praise and glory : which, with the cause of truth and right- 
eousness, was what L singly had in view in coming hither, 
and have been made truly willing to suffer for, 

.... We went to Guernsey Preparative Meeting on 
fourth-day, lodging the previous night with our dear faith- 
ful friend, Robert Qolloway. The meeting was large; 

and I was pretty soon raised up in it, having very clear 
doctrine to deliver, and feeling, I believe, somewhat as 
Paul did. when he spoke of fighting with wild hearts at 
Ephe8US. But they sat silently and very quietly until I 
had d<»ne. when both a man and an English woman spoke 
newhat by way of censuring me and excusing them- 
selves, or trying to turn off what they clearly showed they 
had felt keenly : for my testimony had been to the good old 
way, and against new notions, calling the attention of such 
as had turned aside out of the wav, uiito Him who remains 
to be the only Way of life ;tnd salvation, as well as the 
1 [( aler of breaches, ami the Restorer of path- for the lame 
to walk in. The man said, it was not the first time the 

old adversary had transformed himself int.) the appearance 
of an angel of light, and Bought to deceive the very elect 

by preaching BOUnd doctrine! But it neither moved nor 

harmed us ^fter this meeting, we rode over to Robert 

Smith's, at Stillwater £fl we rode away towards 



L854.] THOMAS B. QOULD. 

Ridg< M< :iiL r , and wife walked along by the side 

ig us i" go to their house. Bui 
we had eaten at the same table for Dearly a week, and 
often side by Bide, and as at the close of the yearly m< 
ing he had bidden me mosl emphatically " farewell," with- 
out savins one word about it till now, although he knew 
of my prospect of visiting some of their meetings; I did 
not incline to go, or to take other notice of what he said, 
about our coming hack and lodging there and seeing if 
he did not treat us kindly, &c, than to say, that I should 
like just to see his house. He finally asked me, if he had 
not treated me generously? — acknowledging, withal, that 
he had been most kindly treated at my house; to which I 

replied, in the hearing of his wife, for whose ear, as well 

as for his own. I intended it, " B , I am greatly con- 
ned for thee ! 1 am afraid, if the Philistines press thee 
much further, or much harder, thou wilt fall upon thy own 

sword, as Saul did!" lie replied, " I am obliged to thee, 
Thomas;" and so we parted, without my seeing his house, 
which he said was near, but hidden by the forest trees. 

... I was silent therein [Ridge Meeting], until near 
the close; when I found an engagement to stand up, and 
was mercifully favored in so doing, to my great relief, 
and. for me, with much clearness and demonstration, 

though not lengthy. While I was on my feet, wept 

like a child. . . . lie seemed as if he could not do 
enough for us; and well he might, for he had not had 
Strength to stand firmly in the presence of B. II. and 
W. E. But I had perceived some change in his feelin. 
before the week was out, and he expressed satisfaction 

with our visit AVe returned to Robert Smith's. 

and lodged there, feeling my mind drawn towards that 
family; with whom we had a precious opportunity in the 
morning, before Ave set out for Plainfield ; wherein I had 
to open the mystery of iniquity, and the manner of its work- 
ing in this our day: and to show them, that it is sometimes 
necessary to contend earnestly for that faith which was 
once delivered to the saints, or else we shall certainly 
make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, and lose 
that goodly inheritance received from our forefathers 

32 



:>74 LIPH AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

and which ought neither to be sold, nor exchanged for an- 
other 

After th ting at Plainfield, we went to visit an aged 
Friend, by the name of Aaron Roberts, who was very low 
with dysentery. On Bitting down by his bedside, he soon 
said, before a word had been ottered, u ] feel sweet unity 
with your spirits." I was just ready to say the same 
thing in refi rence to him. There was no need of many 
words here, and I merely expressed the sense given me, of 
his having fought the good fight, and kept the faith, and 
of there being a crown of righteousness laid up for him in 
heaven, whether an entrance into the heavenly kingdom 
should be sooner or later granted to him. I was after- 
wards informed, by his family, of his having frequently 
expressed the full assurance thereof 

We returned to brother Joshua's last evening [the 18th 
of the month], and intended resting here to-day; for 
although 1 scarcely ever fell so well during a whole week, 
as I did during the week of yearly meeting, when I had so 
much to bear in all other respects, yet no sooner was my 
way opened amongst Friends, and all other things seemed 
to be much more favorable, than 1 became very unwell, 
and have travelled over a great deal of had roads in much 
physical Buffering; and attending a meeting every day for 
a week (exeept one), was of itself wearisome to both body 
and mind. But a severe attack of asthma, first-day night, t 
prevented me from getting much sleep, or lying down; 
and it continued through second-day so badly that I could 
not write 

Yours sincerely, 

T. B. Gtoi Li). 

To Martha s. Gould. 

Somertox, Belmont Co., Ohio, 1 5th of ninth mo., 1854. 
My dbab Martha : 

I received thy letter, giving me the first account of 

dear little Mattie's having had the cholera. laBt seventh- 

dav afternoon, on returning to brother Joshua's after the 
close of yearly meeting. It affected me deeply, but 1 was 



i L] THOMAS '■.. GOl u>. 875 

enabled, after cl inflict, afresh to resign vou all into 

the hands of Him who doeth all things well ; who did un- 
questionably call me forth, and hath gone before me in a 
marvellous manner, making darkness light before me and 
ed paths straight ; also Literally opening a way where 
there seemed to be, and was, no way until He opened it ; 

n giving me favor in the Bight of the Egyptians, caus- 
ing the wrath of man to praise Him, and restraining the 
remainder thereof ! 

P>. II. and others manifested no more disposition to 
show us any favor, after the separation, than they did 
before ; and our certificates were not only not read, but 
everything which he had said against our Bitting was in- 

porated or included in the Account of the Separation. 
prepared nominally by a committee, but written by 



I felt drawn to attend Concord Meeting on first-day. 
Public notice was given in the immediate neighborhood, 

and the house was filled : many Friends, elders, and over- 
's coming thither from neighboring meetings, and at- 
tending the meeting; in which my gracious Master showed 
me a manifest token for good. After meeting, about 
twenty of these Friends from a distance went to brother 
Joshua's to dinner, and a precious time we had ! To 
BOme of these I opened my prospect of appointing a 
meeting at Harrisville the next dav, and at Flushing 
on third-day ; which was fully united with, and they 
were appointed ami held accordingly, to the satisfac- 
tion of Friends, the meetings being large, and the houses 
filled. 

From Flushing we went to Guernsey, and, attended 
their meeting, on fourth-day, which was large : stopped 
at Stillwater, where B. Hoyle lives, and lodged at Robert 
Smith's. Here we called the ministers and elders to- 
gether, and I laid my prospect before them, to attend the 
Hidge Meeting, which lay beyond Stillwater, yesterday : 
to have an appointed meeting here at Somerton to-day ; 
to return to Stillwater, and have an appointed meeting 
there to-morrow; and then proceed to Plainficld, the next 
first-day. They sat long upon it, and finally decided not 



876 l.lli: .\M> LETTERS 01 [1854. 

to appoint a meeting for as al Stillwater, although Eliza- 

! i Smith and otl ad {'nil unity with it. I>. IL's 
Friends urged us to alter our course, and attend Stillwater 
Meeting nexl first-day : bul I lei them know that my 
prospect as to time and place, &c, was clear, and that if 
they were unwilling to meet us on seventh-day, we should 
L r <> "ti directly to Plainfield, whicb we expect to do. We 
then went to the meeting at the Ridge, and in this meet- 
ing was broken to pieces, and was as kind and 

tender as possible, and rode over to this place with us, 
where William Kennard resides. William had told me, 
at the close of the yearly meeting, thai he had unity with 
my service in their great public meeting at Mount Pleasant 
on fifth-day (the Gurneyites were 4 all present); notwith- 
standing my service therein had been very close and 
searching, commencing with the passage: "By the rivers 
of Babylon, there we sat down," &c. ; being also led to 
Speak to the children of the captivity, in the land of their 
captivity. 

Sixth-day ei ening. The meeting at Somerton this morn- 
ing was a favored one. and after it we went to dine with 
Anne Conrow. Many other Friends dined with us; and 
after dinner, falling into silence, dear I{. P. had a lively 
testimony to hear, expressive of heavenly fellowship. 
William Kennard followed her in a remarkable manner, 
expressive of lull Gospel fellowship with us, and of a 
clear and undeniable evidence that our coming was of the 
Lord; "who had called and qualified a minister and mes- 

Benger of the unchangeable Gospel, and sent him forth to 

raise the ancient Standard of truth in its purity ;" also a 
belief that SOme had been gathered to it by mean- of a 

faithful suffering for ami testimony to it, and that many 

nim-e would vet. by BUCh means, he induced t<> rally to 

this standard, &c I was wholly Bilent. William Ken- 
nard rode this morning several miles. t<> labor with 



, who had been previously notified thereof, to induce 

him to come t<> our meeting; hut In 4 would not. He 
s.-iid. with great inconsistency, that he had lull unity 
with me as a true Gospel minister, hut this matter of 
appointing meetings was going beyond the yearly meet* 
ing, \c 



L] THOU 18 B, 0OULD, 81 i 

Iii the last Bitting of the yearly meeting, 1 

had a i jearchii imony given me to bear, relative 

to the >f the Church in general, and of this yearly 

meeting in particnlar; and also to the state of deeply 
experienced and eminently gifted persons present, which 

and others fully understood and could nol gainsay, 

and with which W. K . expressed full unity 

T l W. BODGSON. 

Eta bmond, Ohio, 20th of 9th mo., L854. 
)Iv dbab Brother, \\\ Hodgson, Jr.: 

We took leave of each other in great unity and 
tenderness of spirit, and wenl on our way rejoicing, towards 
Plainfield Meeting, which we attended on first-day last; 
and public notice being freely given, the house was very 
closely filled, and a precious meeting we had. For here, 
as in all other places where I had requested such public 
notice, the hearts of the people seemed to have been pre- 
viously prepared for it. In the meeting at the 
Ridge I was long silent, not expecting to have anything 
to say ; but as the time to break the meeting drew near, 
my Master raised me up in a short testimony to His own 
power, and the sufficiency of it for the accomplishment of 
His own work, without the help of man's contrivance, and 
against his will and working. . . . We attended Short 
Creek Monthly Meeting yesterday, in which I was silent 
until after the shutters were closed : and so also were all 
others present, and there were many. 

L am leaving this part of Ohio with a very quiet, peace- 
ful mind, for which I desire to he thankful. It is near two 
o'clock, fifth-day morning, and I have not been able to 
sleep at all, since a short nap about this time yesterday 
morning. My general health is better than for the next 
week after yearly meeting, when I was very poorly, al- 
though we had a meeting every day except one ; and yes- 
terday, at Short Greek, was a most trying time; yet, for 
the last three or four days and nights, I have been SO very 
asthmatic, as not to admit of my lying down, except for a 
very short time. I have been writing now, in addition to 

32* 



31 S LIFE AND LETTERS OF [185 J. 

a hard day's travel, six boors ; 1 1 1 < I more, alone in the 
parlor al this tavern, my kind companions having befen in 
bed during the whole of this time; and we are to start at 
half-past six in the morning. 

Love to thee and thine, even much more than T can 
speak or write adequately of. Farewell, till we meet. 

Thomas P>. Gould. 

To Martha s. Gould. 

Richmond, Ohio, 20th of 9th mo.. 1854. 
My deab Martha : 

We left brother Joshua's this morning about nine 
o'clock, and have stopped for the night at a tavern in this 
place, <»n our way to Salem, which we expect to reach to- 
morrow evening. Brother Joshua and his sou Jacob, and 
Nathan Cook and wife, came with us. Joshua has hitherto 
taken us through the country, wherever we have been, in 
his own carriage, and expects to continue with us until we 
reach Philadelphia : which has been and is a great comfort 

and help to US 

1 was not able to walk thither, having for the 
last three daysand nights, suffered extremely with asthma, 
except just while we were Bitting in Short Creek Monthly 
Meeting, held at Short Creek yesterday: in which I was 

i WW' 

wholly silent, except a short testimony in the meeting for 
business, partly in reply to the objections made by the 
Gurney people against our sitting, or being allowed to sit 
there, and partly by way of a call upon them to give over 

their disorderly proceedings, and return to first principle-, 

as th<- <»nly way whereby they could he restored to the 
unity of the faith, and the peace and harmony of the So- 
ciety could he restored, while they remained members 

of it, &c. J which had BUCh effect upon some of the more 

moderate among them, that J. L., a- 1 suppose, per- 
ceiving it, and fearing the consequences, turned angrily 

round, looked up in my face, and told me to >it down ! 1 
paused a moment, looked at him, and he turned away his 
face ami was silent ; when I proceeded with what I had to 
say, without altering my position, or the tone of my voice; 



L864.] THOU Lfl B. QOULB. 81 9 

neither was I conscious of being in the least affected by 
it, in any way. But this ia the firs! time thai any of th 
people have manifested public opposition tome, or have 
failed to listen with respectful attention, while I was 
speaking; excepting the uneasiness of ES. P. Gurney and 
Ann Taylor, during pari of the time I was on my feel in 
the great public meeting al Mount Pleasant, during yearly 
meeting. At Short Greek yesterday, whicb is a very large 
monthly meeting, and a majority of them ( lurneyites, J, 8., 
an elder, compelled us to take the head of the meeting: 
but I had no commission to draw the bow, or to shoot a 
Bingle arrow there, in the public me< ting. Several of these 
people have at different times borne apparently an involun- 
tary testimony to my sincerity, and also to my being a 
Gospel minister; and yet tlfey Bay that I cannot consist- 
ently be received as such, because I am a member of the 
"smaller body," and have only been acknowledged by it, 
and since the separation. On the other hand, some of the 
more moderate, but wavering ones among them have, as I 
am informed, been convinced of the rectitude of our posi- 
tion, and have freely acknowledged that their states and 
condition have been spoken to in a manner which they 
could not gainsay or resist. And I do know that our visit 
has been to the comfort and strengthening of many 
Friends ; which, with the incomes, and. at times, the 
abounding of peace and consolation, amidst all our trials, 
affords a merciful and abundant reward; for all which I 
desire to be thankful 

In the last number of " Friends' Review/' there is a 
pretty full and pretty fair account of the separation. What 
they say was expressed by me, is very just, so far as it 
goes: and what they say about the relative numbers, is 
quite as near the truth as the account in " The Friend." 
I judged that about one-third went off with the Gurney- 
ites ; many stayed with them, when Friends first left the 
house, at the time of the separation, merely from curiosity, 
and to see what they would do ; and a sorry time they had 
to keep their own men together. 

The meeting at Plainfield, last first-day. was very large, 
the house being exceedingly crowded. It was also an emi- 



880 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

nently favored meeting; my L r <><»d and gracious Helper 
enabling me to speak to the states of thai mixed multitude, 
in a manner which was to my own humbling admiration, 
and to the satisfaction of Friends. This is the meeting 
where, many years ago, they refused to appoint a meeting 
for Jonathan Backhouse, of which I have often heard thee 

speak A. P. said thai my coming here at this 

time was in answer to prayer; for she had prayed that the 
1 1 >od Shepherd would Bend one of his anointed messengers, 
from among the " smaller body," to visit this land; and 
that, when she heard I was coming, it rejoiced her heart, 
and she could hardly wait to see me. They were all united 

in giving public notice of the meeting Before we 

left , Ave had a very solemn parting opportunity 

together. Many other Friends were present, but my gra- 
cious Helper enabled me so to divide the word of life among 
them, as to reach their several conditions without giving 
any offence. There was not, I believe, one dry eve in the 
r<-om. and some, not of the family, wept aloud during the 

whole time, and for some time after. As for poor , 

her eyes were not dry much if any of the time after she 
sat down in the meeting at IMainlield. while we stayed in 

the neighborhood. In the public meeting, it fell to my lot 
to show the difference between the true Gospel worship and 
the true Christian ministry, and a mere profession of it 
and of religion without coming to the experimental heart- 
work, and knowing the power of it revealed in our souls. 
1 was afterwards told that there were many of other per- 
suasions present, beside those of no profession, and Hicks- 
ites; none of whom escaped, and some were very plainly 

readied. 

With love unfeigned, I am thine, 

T. 15. Gould. 



To Lydia Ann (Iould. 

Alliance Station, 21st of 9th month, 1854 
My dbab Sisteb : 

Thy truly acceptable letter v. as duly received last second* 
day 



L854.] THOMAS B. GKMJLDt 

.... e whole country through which we have tra- 

. Bince rig the ( >hio R 

hills andclales; in comparison with the former of which, 

Tammany (Miantonomi | hill would sink into insignificance. 

They are generally either cultivated to the very tops, or 

.red with timber; many of the trees being more than 

hundred feet high, and three or four feel through at 

the butt : and often running up to the height of fifty or 

sixty feet without a Bingle branch, though of solid oak. . . 

We crossed the Ohio River on a wire bridge, nearly one 

hundred feet above the level of the stream Our 

first business, after crossing the bridge, was to go up one 
of what they call the " river hills :" but I should think it 
might safely be called a mountain, for it was six hundred 
feet high, and the distance to the top of it by the road, 
nearly three miles ; but we had. in this case, a plank road 
nearly all the way up, and to brother Joshua's door. . . . 

At Harrisville [appointed meeting], while on my feet, I 

noticed a great, strong, fine-looking man in the meeting, 

who seemed to have much to do to hold up against what 

was said; hy-and-hye he began to weep, and continued to 

do so until the tears rolled down his cheeks, and dropped 

on the floor to such a degree as I had not before seen in 

any case; for, when I passed by where he had sat, there 

was a Spot on the floor literally wet with his tears. There 

was another man at their meeting, a Friend (which the 

former was not), who had been very undecided in regard 

to the great question which is dividing the Society: who 

told Nathan Jlall that lie was now convinced where the 

Btrength lay. for his state had heen so spoken to in this 

meeting at Harrisville, that lie had no doubt remaining. 
. . . 

At Flushing we lodged at [saac Mitchell's, who. with 

his wife, was as kind as could be ton-. They live in a 

most outlandish place to get to, through the woods and up 

and down the hills; but when once there, it is really very 

pleasant, until one has to get away again. They live, too, 

in the midst of a thickly-settled neighborhood of nice 

Friends, their nearest neighbor being one of the clearest- 

sighted ministers in this yearly meeting. She. with many 

other Friends, came in in the evening, and a time of 



882 LIFE AND LETTSRfl OF [1854. 

silence occurring, Bhe had weighty encouragement to 

offer 

From Flushing we went to Guernsey, and attended their 
preparative meeting as it came in course. There the most 
active and violent leaders of the separatists live; two of 
whom, after 1 sat down, undertook to clear themselves 
from what had been expressed, by denying thai they bad 
departed from the truth and faith of Friends ; bul it 
amounted to nothing; neither did they any greater harm 
to us, than t<> cut one <>f the straps of brother Joshua's 
carriage, that which held the trunk-rack up. which we dis- 
covered before we put the trunk upon it. We lodged here 
at dear old Robert Hollo way's, a valuable minister. . . . 

Farewell. 

T. B. Gould. 

To Martha S. Gould. 

Prakkford, Pa., 29th of 9th month, 1854, 
My dear Martha : 

My Last letter to thee was written at Richmond. We 
went the next dav to Salem, where Ave arrived about sun- 

. and were most kindly received by W. and P. F., who 
heartily agreed to have public notice given of our intention 
of being present at Salem Meeting the next first-day. The 

day following we went to Middletown. about twelve miles 

oil'; Samuel Street taking us in Ins carriage. . . . The 
ehh-r> and overseers, being called together, freely and 
unitedly agreed to appoint a public meeting there for us 
the next day. ami to call the members of two other meet- 
ings, further off, to our meeting at Middletown : which 1 
was quite willing they should do, although 1 told them i 
did not think it would be required of me to visit those two 
meetings. However, a considerable number of their mem- 
bers came to Middletown, and it proved to he a large and 

satisfactory meeting ; and. after dining with a large company 
of solid, agreeable and clear-sighted Friends at the house 
ofW. II and having had a remarkable parting 

opportunity with them, w e returned to Salem, lodged at 
\Y. Fisher's, and attended their meeting next day; which 



1854.] THOU LS B. GtOULR 

and eminently favored Thai 

rnoon ral miles to an 

at N to which the sound Friends of Springfield 

and one other meeting, 1 think, were also invited : and 
divers of them came. The meeting was trery lar >me 

twenty Friends went out toil from Salem; many more 
werethere than could gel into the house; and yei it was a 
Bolid, favored time, Btrength being given me for the lab* 
of the day, in a sufficient and abundant portion. This 
closed my public service in Ohio. We returned to Salem 

the same evening, with dear Robert French 

Robert 1ms been, from the time of our first meeting with 
him, on seventh-day of yearly meeting week, like a dear 
brother and father to me. We lodged that night at his 
house most pleasantly, and spent second-day in taking 
leave of Friends in Salem : taking tea at William Fisher's, 
where upwards of forty Friends came also, to take leave 
of us ; and a solemn and affecting parting opportunity we 
had, which will not, 1 trust, soon be forgotten. . 

We took the ears for Pittsburg about sunset, arriving in 
that smoky city about nine o'clock the same evening: 
which Ave passed through in an omnibus, and it was a 
gloomy ride : for, in addition to the ordinary smoke, they 
had fires burning in the streets, all over the city, on ac- 
count of the cholera ; which had raged there just previously, 
to the extent of one hundred deaths per day, as Ave were 
told, and no doubt it was so. But we passed safely through 
it, through favor; as we did, the next day, through Colum- 
bia. Avhere it had been quite as bad. Many of the inhabi- 
tants had deserted it, and Ave were told that it was im- 
possible to get graves dug fast enough for the dead : and 
so the poor bodies were taken to the graveyard, and left 
above ground whole nights, until graves could be dug for 
them. We got some sleep aboard the car ; and 

Avere favored to reach Philadelphia at nine o'clock on third- 
day evening; where I joyfully received and read thy 
letter, it being the first line I had received from thee, 
dear heart, since the day Ohio Yearly Meeting closed. 

We attended the Southern District Monthly Meeting on 
fourth-day. ... It passed off Avithout opposition : 



88 I LIFE AND DETTEES OF [185 L 

II. C. and J, B. expressed unity with my testimony; 
although it was very close; and at Arch Street yesterday 
much the same. We have an appointed meeting here to- 
day, t0 which 1 UOW must gO« 



T. r>. Gould. 



To M. S. Gould. 



At the souse of James Moon, 1 2th of 1 tli mo., L854. 
M V BNDEARBD MARTHA : 

My last was written at Frankford, since which I hare 
not been able to write one word, although I have thought 
of it. and w ished to do it. much oftener than the returning 
morning, I can assure thee. Bui we have ^rm so con- 
stantly engaged, a meeting almost every day, and Beveral 
times two meetings daily, with long rides between them, 
and much company wherever Ave have been, that I could 
not do it : and BO thou wilt have to excuse me, as I trust 
thou canst and wilt do. 

The meeting at Frankford was well attended, and satis- 
factory to all, 1 believe. E. Pitfield, without knowing of 
my concern, was drawn thither: and attending the meet- 
ing, labored quite extensively in it before 1 said a word; 
neither did I know of her being there at all, until I heard 
her voice. We dined together at William Kinscy's. went 
hack to the city, took tea at B. Albertson's, lodged at 
William Hodgson's, and the next morning left for West- 
town, in company with dear brother Joshua. Brother 
Joseph met us at Westchester, and took us to Westtown. 
At the depot there [several other Friends] met us; and 
laying before them my expectation of being at Westchester 
meeting the next morning (which was first-day), ami that 

I wished public notice given, and also wished a meeting ap- 
pointed on second-day at \\ biteland, they cordially assented 
to my propositions. We went the next day to Westtown, 

where we pas.-ed the afternoon pleasantly with J. and 

II. S., &c, and the next morning, brothers Joseph ami 
Joshua went with us to Westchester. The meeting was 
large ami favored, though my line of labor was rather 
close, commencing with the passage, " There is no king 



I. ) THOMAS B. GOULD. 

saved by the multitude of an host, neither ighty man 

delivered by much Btrength. An horse is b train thing for 

: neither can he deliver any by his great strength. 

the ej the Lord is upon them that fear Him, to 

deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in 

famine/ 1 Soon after dinner we wenl back to 

Westtown, and attended thai meeting in the afternoon. 

Here we parted with dear brother Joshua; we 

ha<l been daily together for a month, I think, in great 
nearness and b^ eet fellowship. 

We had a pleasant ride with David I md passed 

the night at his house in like manner : had a good meeting 
the next day at Whiteland, which Samuel Cope attended, 
and afterwards took us in his carriage to his own house to 

. and to dear Moses Baily's to lodge; who, with his 

wife, and their only son, was truly glad to see us 

The next day we attended Sadsbury Monthly Meeting; 
where our certificates were read, and our services publicly 
approved in the monthly meeting, both men's and women's; 
though not minuted, or endorsed, it not being, as they said, 
their practice in any case. . . . 

The next day, Bradford Monthly Meeting was large, 
notice having been given of our coming: and a time of 
great enlargement and much favor. After tin's we went 
to Morris Cope's, and met with a cordial reception from 
him and his wife. We attended London Grove Monthly 
Meeting the next day. in which, as at Bradford, oiir certi- 
ficates were real in both men's and women's meetings, and 

our service.- approved unreservedly Morris Cope 

went with US, the next morning, to Nottingham Monthly 
Meeting, within the limits of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. 
There we were not only received joyfully, but our certifi- 
cates were read in both meetings, and our services ap- 
proved 

At Little Britain we had a good meeting; M. 0. hav- 
ing a testimony early therein, which opened my way to 
great enlargement, both doctrinally and practically. And 
truly, in this respect, the favors vouchsafed in every meet- 
ing, except that of Short Creek, in Ohio, have been mar- 
vellous in my eve- Although I have been so fre- 

33 



386 lifh and lbttebs of [18f>4. 

(jin ntly and continually engaged, yet fresh matter has 
been abundantly Bupplied in every meeting; bo that those 
who have followed lis from meeting to meeting have not 
been wearied by a thrice-told tale; for which Favor I have 

n truly thankful, as for many others which I cannot 
mention. But I think I may Bay thai my Btrippinga and 
plungings have been commensurate, or at Least correspon- 
dent, to the favors vouchsafed. 

Little Britain is twelve miles from Nottingham ; at both 
which places there is an interesting company of Friends, 
and tliev have nice new and commodious meeting-hone 

After dinner at Little Britain, Ave rode ahout 

twenty-five miles, crossing the Susquehanna River near 
Port Deposit, and lodging at Gideon Smith's, at Deer 
Creek. Attended that meeting On first-day morning, 
which was large, BOme notiee having been given. Here 
were many clever Friends, who were truly glad to see us, 
and some Gurneyius. even some from the city of Balti- 
more, who were very civil and quiet. After meeting we 
dined at an inn, there being no Friend's house near enough, 
or on our way to West Grove, in Pennsylvania : which we 
reached ahout seven o'clock in the evening, having again 
crossed the Susquehanna River. We lodged at the house 
of Levi Wickersham ; and word having been previously 
sent on, we attended an appointed meeting at West 
Grove on second-day morning at eleven o'clock; and 
another at New Garden at four o'clock the same afternoon. 
Both of these meeting- were large and favored. The 
former place was the residence and meeting in which deai- 
old William Jack son lived. We saw his grave and that of 
his wife, and also the house and room in which they both 
lived and breathed their last. It is of logs, and very plain 
and old, but large. We Baw the house where John Church- 
man lived, ami passed the meeting-house which he at- 
tended; a large old building, one half of brick, the other 
of Btone. It is now, with the ground in which he was 
buried, in the possession of the Elicksites, who are quite 
numerous, hut scarcely a Friend in the neighborhood. We 
parted with Morris Cope in unity and brotherly feeling ; 

and Thomas WhitSOn and Thomas Harvey took US to New 



I. I IH0MA8 i:. GOULD. 

- l*'ii, where we met with Hannah C. Haines; and after 
eting there that afternoon, we took tea and lodged at 

Thomas Lamborn's Thomaa took us the next 

morning twelve miles, to an appointed meeting at Bir- 
mingham; where, to my surprise, I saw Beated in the 
gallery, when 1 entered the meeting, William Scattergood, 
Nathan Sharpies, and Edith Bate, who had conic over from 

icord to meet us The next morning, William 

Scattergood brought us in his carriage twenty-three miles 
to Philadelphia, dined with as at William Hodgson's, and 
came also with us on the boat to Bristol; where we parted 

with him, he returning to Philadelphia 

Farewell ; thy own, 

T. B. Gould. 

From Wm. Scattergood to M. S. Gould. 

CoNOORDYILLK, Pa., 10th mo., 13th, 1854 

bbmed Friend, Martha Gould: 
Having had within a few davs an acceptable visit from 
thy beloved husband, I feel inclined to drop thee a line or 
two, by way of information as to his getting along in this 
neighborhood. Not that I doubt thy receiving from other 
sources, and also from himself, similar accounts; but be- 
lieving that thou wilt be glad to have the tidings of his 
Buccess confirmed. I am not afraid of the repetition, if so 
it should prove. He signified, himself, that he found it 
somewhat difficult to find suitable opportunities for writing; 
and thus, unless volunteers are found, thou mayst not 
know how to follow him in what has appeared to some 
who have looked at his present engagement, as a perilous 
encounter with the spirit of the world. I can truly say 
I have sympathized with thee in thy anxious thoughts 
about him, under the circumstances in which he has gone 
forth in the present concern ; but so far as I have been 
able to perceive and to learn, he has witnessed the truth 
of the declaration to one of the tribes in Israel of old : 
" As thy day, so shall thy strength be ;" and I trust also 
that his shoes will have been found to be as iron and brass, 
not wearing out to the end. We received notice here on 



388 LIPB AND LETTERS 0* [1854. 

lond-day evening last, of his intention or prospect of 
having a meeting al this place the next day in the after- 
noon : and the way appearing clear, it was accordingly 
appointed for three o'clock on third-day ; and was at- 
tended by a larger number than is commonly found at 
any <•{' our meetings, whether appointed or otherwise. 
The Bervice in it, both in testimony and prayer, was, as 
far a- I can understand, satisfactory, and to my <>wn feel- 
inga was attended with that calming, Bettling influen< 
which 1 believe should attend the ministry of the Gospel 

Of peace. 

In looking over Thomas's movements, both within the 

limits of our yearly meeting and in other places, I have 
thought it might he compared to the circumstance of 
Haman being compelled t<> lead the king's horse, while 
Mordecai rode : for truly the spirit of Hainan has been 
largely found among us hereaway, even in those who have 
been largely confided in by the King of kings : who have 

thereby been led to exalt themselves, and to despise and 
contemn those who would not how to the glory which, 

though not of themselves, they were determined should be 
regarded as their own* This spirit, emanating from indi- 
vidual- in high Standing, and spr< ading hither and thither, 
has affected many who were afraid to think for themseli 
and drawn them aside from the simplicity of the truth ; 
Inn on the present occasion, has been made to bo^v at the 
clearly heard command of the Kin-- of kings, in favor of 
those who have spoken good for Him, and discovered the 
treachery of His pretended friends. 1 would that the 
comparison might be carried out, and that the Bang 
would in His wisdom, and in mercy to His Church, com- 
mand thai this unrighteous, overbearing spirit might he 
hung upon that gallows upon which it has been intended 
that the humble pleader- lor the truth should he exposed. 
I have Been and felt (I think) that QOthing hut the com- 
mand of the Lord of all, could have carried thy dear 
Th >ugh the irarious exercises to which he 1 

been exposed since his leaving home, giving him wisdom 
and understanding, and a ready answer to those who. 



L854. ] THOMAS B. GOULD. 

though making high professions, are Becretly enemies to 
the i of I Inrist. 

And now I desire to encourage thee, and to strengthen 
thy hands to take thy share of the labors of the da 
believing as I do, thai those who "stay by the stuff/ 1 in 
patient endurance, will be favored to partake with those 
that go forth, of the Bpoil of the enemy ; and thai both of 
you. when favored to meet again, will be enabled k * to 
rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of your salva- 
tion/' I can truly >ay 1 long for dear T., whom I can 
truly call my brother, that he may be enabled, when re- 
duced again to his station at the King's gate, which may 
yet again be his place and portion, to maintain his 
faith and patience, till the King, having put down this 
proud spirit that is among us, shall call for him, and 
give him the seals of the kingdom, and that authority 
without which we are truly hut empty and unprofitable 

■•■Is. 
It seems likely by what he said, that his tarriance here 
will not be much longer. He left Philadelphia now about 
two weeks Bince, attended the West Chester Meeting on 
first-day morning, the first of the month, AYesttown in the 
afternoon, Whiteland (appointed) second-day ; on third, 
fourth, and fifth-days was at Sadsbury, Bradford, and 
Fallowfield or London Grove Monthly Meetings; on 
sixth-day at Nottingham Monthly Meeting, within the 
bounds of Baltimore Yearly Meeting ; and in all these 
monthly meetings his certificate was rend, and satisfaction 
felt with his company. On seventh-day last, I under- 
stand he had an appointed meeting at Little Britain, a 
branch of Nottingham Monthly Meeting; to Deer Creek 
on first-day, then returned back into Chester County, and 
on second-day had a meeting at Wcstgrove in the morn- 
ing, and at New Garden in the afternoon. Then on 
third-day came to Birmingham to a meeting in the morn- 
ing, and as I mentioned before, to Concord in the after- 
noon. I may acknowledge that I have been struck, 
stranger as he must have been very much among Friends 
here, at the wisdom which has guided him in his move- 
ments so far, within the limits of our yearly meeting; 



390 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [185 L 

and I may also say. I am thankful thua to perceive that 
the goodness ;in<l mercy of our Boly Head and Sigh 

Priesl arc not taken away from us; but that, as lie is 
Boughl unto and followed in simplicity, lie .-till conde- 

nda to guide by His counsel, and strengthen for the 
work of the day. 

I oughl perhaps to say, that on fourth-day Thomas had 
n<> meeting. I took him and his companion to Philadel- 
phia, and accompanied them in the steamer to Bristol, 
where I led him in charge of a son of James Moon, to he 
at tlie wedding yesterday. So far as L could understand 
his prospects, I did not sec that lie would be kept front 
home longer than next week out; and I hutnhlv trust ho 

< » 

may be SOOn restored to thee, with sheaves of peace, and 
with his faith renewed and strengthened in that Arm of 
Power which has been the support of the righteous in all 
generations. 

I have left my writing till so near the closing of our 
mail, that I have written in haste; and might say much 
more, hut this may perhaps suffice to let thee know that 
He that puts forth hath gone before, preparing the way 
in the hearts of the people and their rulers; so that I 
trusl this visit will be a sealing stroke to the prevalence 
of that temporizing spirit, which lias so abundantly pre- 
vailed within our limits, as well a- elsewhere ; and if so be, 
we are permitted to see the church once more rising out 
CUrity and out of darkness, let us he engaged to 
give the glory to 1 1 i 1 1 1 to whom alone it hclongeth: wdio 
hath preserved US in His mercy from the snare of the 
enemy, and whose gracious design it is that we should live 
to His glory, and he instrumental in promoting His cause 

in the earth. 

With love to thyself and thy children (with whom Tho- 
mafi has made US a little acquainted), in which my wife 
and daughter unite. 

I am affectionately, 

thy friend. 

Wm. Scattbrgood. 



!. ] THOfl LS ::. GOl u>. 881 



From T. B. I L ro Josni a M mm:. 

Medford, N. J., IGlh of LOth mo , 1 35 1. 
Ml DBAB BrOTHKR, J. MAULE : 

The meetings, both at Birmingham and Con- 

•d, were Bolid, Favored seasons, and the Latter eminently 
ii in testimony and supplication. At Birmingham 
it fell more to my lot to open the mystery of iniquity, 
well as of godliness, which was done somewhat closely in 
divers important respects and particulars, which made the 
Bervice trying; but a good degree of resignation was wit- 
nessed, and 1 trust of faithfulness also, 1 afterwards un- 
derstood there were several Grurney people present, and 
Le of them were from the city; to which William Scat- 
tergood very kindly took us the next day in his carriage. 
. . . The day after, which was the twelfth of the month 
and fifth of the week, we attended meeting at the Palls, or 
Fallsington, which was large, and very solemn from first 
to last. Jonathan Chace and Jane Moon were marriedat 
this meeting; after which my mouth was opened in testi- 
mony, in a manner very unusual for me, both as regarded 
%j ' %/ > < 

the copiousness of the subjects spoken of, and the demon- 
Ettion and power attendant. However, the effect pro- 
duced by my feeble labors in all these meetings has mani- 
festly appeared to be, to bring the minds of Friends into 
an increasing unity and heavenly fellowship with us, and 
one with another, in Him who remain.- to be Head overall 
things to his Church and people. Blessed forever be the 
name of our all-sufficient and adorable Helper, and Preserver 
hitherto ! .... On the 14th we had a meeting, and a 
very remarkable one too, through the renewings of Holy 
Help, at Byberry, The day was wet, but notice having 
been extended also to the Hicksites, many of them came, 
and afterwards seemed kind and tender, several of them 
inviting us to their houses to dinner, and showing US many 
other attentions; insomuch that I supposed they were 
really Friends who did so, though no harm came of my 
mistake in any way, I believe. Indeed the house was so 
small, when I came to see it, in comparison with the old 



392 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1854. 

meeting-house, which they are, it is Baid, sufficiently nume- 
rous nearly to fill, thai I doubted whether they would 
condescend to come to it ; Friends being very few in num- 
ber here, I was told, and much despised by many of the 
Qicksites. Bu1 after meeting, I found Friends were really 
much fewer than I had expected. However, this judging, 
in a Bort, or for a time, according to appearances, and 
after the manner of inch, did no harm; for I had at last 
to stand up with these singular expressions : " Who art 
thou, who queriest, ' whal good can be expected, by coming 

here and sitting down with a small and despised company, 
who are no hetter than I am? Indeed I did not expect 
to gain any good by coming here. I am a moral man; 
quite as good or hetter than my neighbors who profess a 

more orthodox faith : but it is a rainy day, and I might 
a- well spend my time here as elsewhere; I have nothing 
else to do V Having Baid this much, I saw a smile play 
over the features of a hard-looking old man, who was 
dressed Bomewhat plainly, and at the same time I felt 
inwardly convinced that he was the very man. the thoughts 
of whose heart had been made manifest. I was told after- 
ward.-, thai this man was a real Hicksite, that is to Bay, 
an infidel : and that, on being notified of the meeting, he 
said he did not know whether lie would come to it or not; 
that he was willing to be preached to, hut did not like to 
be preached at! Tin' mysteries which these poor deluded 
people have Stumbled at, and refused to hclieve in, were 
largely opened, and the necessity of true faith and obedi- 
ence weightily enforced; which would enable them to ac- 
cept the plan of salvation, and the means provided for 

them, in the < rOSpel of peace and reconciliation. Although 
I did not at all Suppose the number of those present, who 

had imbibed this spirit of unbelief, was near bo large as 

musl have heen the ca>e if all the Hicksit&S present were 

really unbelievers, yet 1 was mercifully preserved from 
Baying anything which could have limited the application 
t<> a few individuals, except, as above stated, in the very 

commencement of whal was uttered 

Farewell. Thy loving brother, 

T. 11. COULD. 



1 85 I. | THOM \- B. 301 i.i'. 

To Joshua ami Sarah M i\ lb. 

Blmsidb, N'i v. i ' 10th month, I 35 I. 

M V DB \K BROTHEB AND SlSTEB : 

I tliink it will be two weeks to-morrow, Bince I wrote 
to you from tin* house of our dear friends, J. R. and M. S. 
. of Medford, New Jersey; and believing yon will 
be glad to know thai I was favored to reach my own home 
in peace and safety, and to find my dear M. and the chil- 
dren well, I have taken up my pei to give you the infor- 
mation; which 1 should have done sooner, but have b< 

asthmatic, and otherwise indisposed since my return, 
thai I could nol well write more than I have been al 
lately compelled to do. 

1 think I told you in my last, thai 1 attended Medford 
meeting on first-day. . . . The meeting was large, and, 
I believe, satisfactory to Friends, but trying and laborious 
to me. 1 lodged at J. R. \l that night; divers 

Friends met us there. The day following we had an ap- 
pointed meeting at Rancocas, which was large and well; 
many great and heavenly mysteries being opened, as I 
trust, in the life and power of truth. Here dear Rachel 
Roberts, the widow of Ebenezer Roberts, met us, and, with 
divers other Friends, dined with us at the house of Ezra 
and Phebe Haines; and, after visiting a family in the 
neighborhood, we returned the same night with J. and M. 
Reeve to their house; and they and their children went 
with us the next morning to an appointed meeting at Crop- 
well, and to another in the afternoon at Lower Evesham; 
botti of which were large, divers Friends From neighboring 

rtings coming in, and some of them such as J did not 
expect to see. Rut it did appear that lie who sent as 
forth, opened the way for us, and gave us favor in the 
sight of the people, filling my heart with faith, and open- 
ing a door of utterance, and, I trust, of entrance also, in 
a manner which was wonderful to me, and, I beli 
many more, considering what a poor weak vessel I am. and 
where I came from. For some who had evident 1 
disposed to doubt whether any good thing could come out 
of Nazareth, were induced to "come and see" where the 



394 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18f>4. 

Master dwells ; even with such as have no might of their 
own, with Mich as are poor and of a contrite spirit, and 
who tremble at His Word ; and not only bo, but 1 do hum- 
bly trust that, through the gathering influence of J lis hea- 
venly lovfe, Borne of these will be enabled to abide with 
Him, even as in the day of His temptation ; and that He 
an ill appoint unto them a kingdom, k *a> My Father hath 

appointed Unto Me." 

The meeting at Lower Evesham was long silent; per- 
haps my faith, or that of others, has seldom been reduced 
t<» a lower ebb. But water came at length, by the -way of 

the wilderness, so that they who had been brought together 
did not perish with thirst, as some, I believe, had sup- 
posed : and when the day dawned, the sun shone gloriously 
upon the water, and the armies of [srael were given to 
drink, and the Moabites were discomfited, and the victory 
ami- great in the end, the shout of a Kins being heard in 
the camp; and the voice of thanksgiving and praise was 

uttered by dear in such a manner that, if it had 

been called for, I could audibly have said. Amen ! We 
went the same evening to Moorestown, lodged at the widow 
Rachel Roberts's, and attended their meeting the next 
day. where Josiah and Maria Reeve again joined us. In 
this meeting the door was unlatched for me; but it was 
only to open up to view the mystery of iniquity, Mystery 
Babylon the Great; though " built like Zion, painted just 
like Zion, and made to look" as nearly as possible " like 
Zion," yet it was Babylon still ; and I had to tell them 
that there was nothing to be found in Zion, but the image 
and likeness thereof might be found in Babylon. ITard 
work and close work I had of it here, to my great sur- 
prise, for I had expected different things. But finding 
Babylon begin to totter, as a token of its fall, after a while 
I Btood up ;i second time, having the mystery of godlir 
to "poll, and the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that 
dwell on the earth, &C. J and the meeting ended with solemn 
supplication for the children of the captivity, for the lost 
Bheep of the hour of [srael, and the dispersed and scat- 
tered of Judah; that they might be mercifully restored 

to their own land, and brought back to David, their right- 



L] THOMAS B. GOULD. 

i'ul King, within the walla of Jerusalem, "whose walla arc 
sa 1 . . and her gates prait 

We dined :it Samoel Matlack's, with Hannah Warring- 
and- many other Friends, Chancing to ask Hannah, 
whal wasthemal wtlI she quickly answered, 
11 Thou hasi answered the question thyself in meeting this 
day: if thou hadsl prophesied smooth to as, I should have 
doubted thy authority : but there is a cause for all thy 
amongsl as, and 1 had near unity with thee 
therein/' Soon after tea, we returned to the widow 
Rachel Roberts's to lodge. . . . The next morning, 
S. Matlack took us in his carriage to the city. We dined 
at W. H.'s, and spent the remainder of the day and even- 
ing in visiting divers Friends 

William Kinsey took us the next morning [first-day] 
to Germantown meeting, which was large, notice having 
been given of our coming: the house was very nearly full, 
and much labor fell to my lot. ... I stood up with 
the words, k * Suppose ye that those men upon whom the 
tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, were sinners above 
all men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay: but 

;ept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish:" and pro- 
led to show that, all men who had not received the gift 
of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ, nor been enabled to bring forth fruits meet for the 
same, stood in need of repentance and amendment of life; 
and such were accordingly called upon to repent and believe 
the Gospel, even that Gospel which is not a mere theory, 
but the power of God unto salvation, and deliverance from 
the power and dominion of sin and Satan. They were 
called upon to repent and believe the Gospel, because the 
time was at hand in which every man's faith, and work-. 
and buildings would be tried, and the nature thereof dis- 
covered ; and so it was absolutely necessary for all to ex- 
amine themselves, and try themselves, whether they were 
in j ion of the true faith, which works by love to the 

purifying of the heart, and giveth the victory over the 
world, the flesh, and the devil ; or whether they were 
merely in possession of a literal, historical, manufactured 
faith, which they had framed to suit themselves and to 



896 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [185 !. 

ve their turn, while they irere conscious of being led 
captive by their soul's enemy al his will, or being sub- 
jects of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 
whirl) now ruleth in the children of disobedience. Hard, 
close work 1 had with the high pro;' of a merely 

notional religion; but was enabled to obtain some relief, 
ami sal down a while; during the former pari of which the 
solemnity was great, and prevalent apparently over even 
the strongest of the city Grurneyites, many of whom 
were present, beside several Friends, who had come out 
from the city. But I did not feel clear: and eventually 
had to stand up the second time, with the account of ten 
of the tribes of [srael being rem from the house of David, 
on account of the unfaithfulness of David's sons, who had 
reigned in his stead, or after him, &c, — how Jeroboam 
was raised up and chosen in a remarkable manner, to reign 
over the house of Israel in Samaria; and how jealous he 
became of the men of Israel going up to Jerusalem to 
worship, Lesl their hearts should return to David their 
king; and SO he set iij) a separate altar in Bethel, and 
another in Dan: — that be became so far degenerate, as to 
set up an idol calf worship, saying, "These be thy gods, 

oh Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt :" 

which became a great snare unto Israel, and they departed 

not from the sin of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin, 
for many generations. But there was a prophet of the 
Lord, sent out of Judah, to cry against the separate altar 
which hail been set up in Bethel : and he cried against it 

in the word of the Lord, Saying, "Oh, altar! altar! thus 
saith the Lord, thou Bhalt he rent, and thy ashes shall he 
poured out ! A child shall he horn unto the house of 
Judah. Josiafa by name, and upon thee shall he oiler the 

priests of the high places, "which hum incense upon th< 
and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee!" They were 
told how Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense, 
when this cry was uttered against hi- idol worship and 
separate altar : and how he stretched forth his hand 
ainsl the Lord's prophet. Baying, ** Lay hold on him!" 

— that the hand which he put forth against the prophet 
Was withered, SO that he could not draw it back to him 



1 85 1. 1 Tih'M I BOULD. 

I he * as fain to appeal to the L< ophel 

p, >aying, "Entreat no* the face of the Lord th; I 
thai my hand may be i ed to 

which I being complied v. ith, it wj tored, 

\ all this was opened and applied to the Btate of indi- 
viduals and things, in a manner so close thai it was hard 
for me to utter, and for those concerned to bear ; and I did 
not kn<»w l)iu -nine from the city, and one in particular, 

WOUld lia\ ■ OUt Of the house. Dear noticed 

this man's m also, and was rather expecting that 

he would leave; but he did not, and the mi 
d solidly. 
. . . . V. to the North Meeting in good season, 

which was large, the seats on the ground ftoor on the 
women's side being closely idled, and nearly so on the 
men 9 a side. ... It was more than an hour silent, and 
I was in hope it might have ended so; but was eventually 
raised up with the language, "Woe unto them that go 
down into Egypt for ships, that stay on horses and trust 
in chariots, and fear not me, saith the Lord!" — querying 
very closely of some, in the language of the prophet to 
some of old : '* What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, 
to drink of the waters of Sihor ; or what hast thou to do 
in the way of the land of Assyria, to drink of the waters of 
the river?" — and also declaring, "Thou shalt be ashamed 
of Egypt, even as thou wast ashamed of Assyria:" re- 
minding them, some of them especially, that the Lord's 
people went down aforetime into Egypt, and the Assy- 
rian oppressed them without a cause; and that, as was 
tin- case formerly, bo it would be now: the Lord would 
bring down the stout heart of the proud king of Assyria, 
and humble the pride of his high look- : yea., although 
some might exalt themselves as the eairle, and seem to 
" make their nests in the rocks, and in the very top of the 
ragged rocks," yet " from thence will I bring them down, 
saith the Lord?" For that the day of the Lord would 
come "upon every high tower, and upon every fenced 
wall, and upon all pleasant pictures, and upon all the 
ships of Tarshish : and the haughtiness of men shall be 
humbled, and the loftiness of men be laid low." &c. Cut 

34 



:J!»S Lin: and LETTEBS of [1854. 

k -iiiiio you thai fear my name, shall the Sun of righteous- 
ness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth 
and grow up as calves of the stall : M — ye shall tread down 
the wicked, who shall lie as ashes under the Boles of your 
feet. Therefore "say not, a confederacy, unto all th< 
who would say. a confederacy, bul sanctify the Lord (rod 
of hosts in your hearts,' 1 — even Him who ran Bave by 
many or by few: and "let Him be your fear, and let 
Him be your dread;" yea, I say unto you, fear Him! 
Such was the substance of the earlier portion of what was 
expressed in the North Meeting ; but there was much more 
both of a doctrinal, practical, and encouraging nature, 
addressed also to particular states and conditions; some 
of whom I trust were a little helped and strengthened. 
The meeting closed with solemn supplication, poured forth 
by Elizabeth Pitfield. With her we took tea and spent 
the evening. . . . Many Friends came in to see us and 
take leave of us; among whom S. Hillman came early, 
and Stayed till nine o'clock. E. Pitfield ministered to us, 
in the language addressed to the primitive disciples and 
messengers of the I tospel : " When I sent you forth with- 
out purse, or scrip, or a change of raiment, lacked ye 
anything '.' — and they said unto Him, Nothing, Lord !" &c, 
and the opportunity (dosed with the language of supplica- 
tion, for the blessing of preservation in the remaining por- 
tion of labor and suffering which may be allotted in this 
probationary state, as well as of thanksgiving and praise 
for the unmerited blessings and favors which had been 
received al the hand of the Lord, and manifested for the 
help and encouragement of J I is poor and afflicted people, 
who have none to look to or trust in, but His worthy name 
and power ahme. 

I called and spent an hour with aunt S., and returned 

tO Our Lodgings at W. II. s. I>ivcrs Friends met us at 
the boat the next morning, when we took our leave of 

them, and proceeded to New York. Here we took the 

steamer for home, where I arrived about Tour o'clock the 
next morning, and found my dear Martha and the children 

overjoyed to welcome me home again. 

.... My visit both there and in Ohio affords me solid 



I - 4.] TBOMAfi B. SO! u>. 

satisfaction. . . . Still I have nothing to boasl <»f. of 
to glory in. Bavc my infirmities, which form b ^ery poor 
ground and cause of glorying. And truly 1 can say, thai 
although I was brought very low, before I was made will- 
ing to L r ". yet it has been my lot to have been brought 
lower Bince; and at this moment it seems very doubtful, 
how and when 1 shall be able to accomplish what remains 
of my prospect, respecting the meetings in New Xork. 
My health has been very poor Bince my return ; I have 
lost my appetite, and some pounds of flesh, and am so 

weak and >iek, that the Wilting of these sheets has heen a 

work of time and labor to me. . . . 

It is now the 8th of eleventh month. I wrote the first two 
pages of the other sheet, the day before leaving home to at- 
tend our meeting for sufferings and quarterly meeting, held 
on the first and second of this month at Fall River. My 

dear Martha went with me The weather, which 

had heen very fine and warm since my return, until last 
seventh-day. then suddenly changed to quite cold, and I 
took a very severe cold riding home ; which has so seriously 
affected my throat and lungs, that it would not be at all 
surprising if I should he laid up for this winter, as I was 

the last, and as I have heen since my return I 

do hope you got my letter from Jersey, and that you will 
write so, m, and tell me of Friends in Ohio; to whom my 
heart is strongly bound, many of them in the fellowship of 

suffering for the cause' sake 

T. B. Gould. 

To Joshua Maule. 

ElmsIDE, Llth of 11th month, 18.51. 

My dear Brother, J. Maule: 

I never once thought of thy giving any copy 

of the former letter, though it did occur to me that thou 
might feel inclined to read either the whole or some parts 
of it, as thou might think suitable, to some of those dear 
Friends at Ilarrisvillc : which I could not ohject to, if thou 
thought it might he in any way encouraging to them. In 
this respect I have long since been made willing to sacri- 



LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1864, 

Bee my own feelings, which would certainly lead me to 
k seclusion and retirement, and by no means notoriety, 
I'Vw can imagine what my naturally itive feelings 

have caused me to Buffer in this respect. Now my object 
in giving thee, in my last letter, some accounl of the man- 
ner in which 1 was led, was to commemorate the mercy 
and goodness of my all-sufficient Helper, in furnishing 
me, even to the last, with new matter, with matter adapted 
to the varied condition of those to whom I was called to 
minister, stranger as 1 certainly was, as to the outward, 
both to their persons ami states. In this respect (ami I 
knew thou wouldsl both understand it and rejoice in it) I 
have great cause for thankfulness; ami many more had 
reason to rejoice, ami did rejoice, that the Great Head of 
the Church had regard not only to the low estate of His 
poor messenger, who went forth, and from meeting to 
meeting, without either purse or scrip, but also to the 
e of His professing, but degenerate, Church and peo- 
ple, ami bo caused the secrets of many hearts to be re- 
vealed! One Btriking instance of this hind has come to 
my knowledge since my return home, by a letter to Nancy 
Buffinton from Lydia Reeve, in which she gave an account 
of the meeting at Prankford. I was a total stranger 

the:-", and I told them so, except to a very few Friends 
who Bat near me. But I had to speak to Hicksites, and 
Gurneyites, and Friends, to some of different sorts ami 
grades of infidelity and unbelief, and even to Mich as wished 
to disbelieve even in the existence of a God, or any divine 
revelation whatever. And in treating of the divine testi- 
mony and authority of the Holy Scriptures in general, and 
also with regard to the coming ami offices of the Saviour 
of men. His miraculous conception, holy life, suffering 
death, ami propitiatory sacrifice for the sins '^i' the whole 
world. — r stopped there, not feeling led to go further 
therein: and proceeded with other matter and doctrine, 
it was opened to my view in that which I knew could only 
lead me aright; and Bal down, after proceeding to con- 
siderable length, ami speaking to a variety of Btates ami 
conditions, Hut I had nol long resumed my seat, when I 
had to stand up again, and say 3 in substance, that, unl< 



! 85 l.j THOMAS B. QOULD. l n I 

I a\ n - wholly mistaken in my Peelings — adding emphati- 
cally, and I think 1 am not — there is at least one person 
present, who has taken exception to what has been ex- 
pressed, as it' there had nol been, in terms of sufficient 
fulness, an acknowledgment of all the offices of Christ; 
because His being raised from the dead on the third day, 
and His ascending into heaven (and being Been in Sis as- 
cending) and Bitting down on the right hand of the throne 
of the Majesty on high, as our Mediator and Advocate 
with the Father, where He ever liveth, making intercession 
for a-, had not been folly and distinctly adverted to; and 
<o proceeded to open these heavenly mysteries more fully. 
Now L. EL, in giving N. I>. a very full account of this 
meeting at the time, or very soon afterward.-, remarked 
that, at the close of this meeting, a Gkurney woman (who, 
it seems, was present, although it was an appointed meet- 
ing, and judging after the manner of men, I should not 
have supposed such were likely to be present) — this 
Gurney woman remarked, in reference to the very singu- 
lar manner in which I was led to stand up and speak the 
»nd time, "that she did not understand how T. B. G. 
came to know just what she was thinking of!" However, 
in thinking of these things (and there were many such 
instances). I have had cause to remember this scripture, 
in substance, at least, "Rejoice not that the spirits are 
made subject unto you" (even although it were only through 
the renewed manifestation and revelation of the Lord's 
own name and power), " but rather rejoice that your names 

are written in heaven !" 

Affectionately, 

Thomas B. Gould. 

To William Scatteroood. 

XEwrouT, 30th of lltli month, 1854. 

My dear Friend, William Scattergood : 

I was favored to reach mv own home on the -4th of last 
month, and from that time to the present have frequently 
felt inclined to address a few lines to thee; not that I have 
much to say, more than that thou and thine have been 



402 LIFE ANIi LETTERS OF [18* I , 

often in my affectionate remembrance, since I was bo kindly 
cared for under your hospitable roof. Yet this is not all 
which I have wanted to acknowledge: thy great kindm 
in taking my dear companion and myself into the city, and 
also in going with as to Bristol, has not been Forgotten; 
an<l even more than this, I have wished to acknowledge 
thy truly acceptable, and very kind and considerate letter 
to my dear Martha during my absence 

And truly, in this journey. J have had frequent 0( 
sions reverently to acknowledge, that He who remains to 
be Lord of all. and Head over all things to His Church 
and people, even the least and hindermost of them, still 
leadeth the Mind by a way which they know not, except 

I [e is pleased to open it before them, and in paths which 
they have not previously seen : yea. lie maketh darkn* 
light before them, and crooked paths straight. 

Many of those people [Hicksites at Byberry] seemed 
much tendered, and were very kind after meeting; and if 
Friends, such as are called orthodox, stood more in the 
life and power of truth, I should not wonder if there was 
yet a gathering to the Tower and the Life, even from 
amongst those who have Ion-- wandered from the Father's 
house, " feeding upon the husks which the swine do eat." 
"spending their money for that which is not bread," and 
wasting their substance for that which satisfieth not. May 
the Lord hasten it in His time! 

At S. Nfatlack's, soon after meeting [Moorestown, — see 

letter t<» d. Maule]. OUT certificates were read, which brought 
a feeling of solemnity over the company; during which 
dive)-- testimonies were home to the excellency of that 
Power which is "lie in all the living, and by which they 
are baptized into one body, and enabled to drink of one cup, 
even the cup of the New Testament in His blood, whose 

blood is the life, and the body IS of Christ : «>f whom all 
the living do know what it is to feed upon it: and that, 
except they eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Sou of 
Man, they can have no spiritual life in them; neither is 
this an imaginary eating or drinking, hut a real participa- 
tion in 1 [is body and blood. 

And yet it does not appear as if those who 



L854.] 'in i.d. 108 

t rule egnong Friends in Ohio were ye1 prepared to 
I the right hand of fellowship to as in New Eng- 
land, .-i- a yearly meeting. Well may we query* When 
w\\\ the wound which the daughter of my people has re- 
ived, be healed, and the breaches made in the walls of 
Zion, be repaired? Ye\ I trusl thai we are as well pre- 
pared, by the things which we have already suffered, to 
endure this hardness and standing aloof, as those are, 
who are virtually Baying to us, "Stand by yourseli 
for it' we are not more holy, we are more regularly orga- 
/ than y<>u." And 1 shall be mistaken, if the shak- 
ing that has already commenced does not continue, until 
the honest-hearted are brought to their senses; so as to 
that it is not in the outward order, but the inward life 
and power, that the true succession stands ; and that the 
form without the power is eren to be "turned away from;' 1 
and so become prepared to acknowledge those who come 
in the name, and stand in a measure of the power of the 
Lord : who can save by many or by few, and who has not 
ordinarily manifested His arm of power and strength, 
while there was an undue reliance upon the " multitude 
of an host." My dear wife desires to be affec- 
tionately remembered to thee and thine, in which I do 
fully unite, and remain 

Thy sincere friend, 

Thomas B, Gould. 

To William Hodgson. 

Elmside, 14th of 12th mo., 1854. 

My dear Friend, 

I think there is much allowance to 

be made for different temperaments, even natural tempera- 
ments ; for it often happens, that it is long before all the 
old inhabitants of the land are driven out : and there cer- 
tainly is great allowance to be made for different degrees 
of religious experience and growth in the truth. Hut 
according to my little measure and sense of feeling, there 
is scarcely a more discouraging or trying feature in the 
besetments of the present day and time, than the great 



104 Lira AM) LETTERS OF [18">4. 

diversity of Bentiment which really does exist, in regard 
to what may be called minor matters — I am ready to Bay 
" technicalities," — even among Friends of pretty good and 
perhaps nearly equal experience. 1 was constantly re- 
minded of it. and struck or impressed with it, in my Late 
journey; and marly. — shall I say? — overwhelmed with it, 
on my return home, or BOOH after. I can look upon it in 
no other light than as a sad evidence of the strong desire 

which Satan has, to have those, who may peradventure he 

said to have endured perhaps the first and second shaking ; 

that he may sift them as wheat is sifted in a sieve, even 

again, and again, and again, until everything that can be 

shaken or sifted out is removed. But surely the watch- 
men will see eye to eye, when the Lord does bring again 
Zion : and some signs of it I thought I could discover, at 
times, while 4 in your yearly meeting, and also in Ohio* 
At least there was a shaking of another sort from what I 
have been above speaking of, even as among the dry bones 
of the valley, and a coming together of bone to his bone, 
and sinews came upon them, and llesh covered them ; and 
they arose and stood upon their feet, by the power and 
quickening virtue of the breath of life which came from 
the Lord, and which cometh and can come from Him 
only. And if we were only sufficiently concerned to feel 
this, t<> wait for it, to go not, as dear William Leddra 
Baid, one step without it, without feeling it, without know- 
ing it to be "our life," then we should know Him who is 
the resurrection and the life ; and not only so, but also 
witness the precious unity, fellowship, and oneness which 
remains to be in Him. lie would not heal the wounds of 
the daughter of Zion deceitfully; but he would heal them, 
ami build up the breaches in her walls, and restore paths 
for the lame to walk in. Ami there would be a blessed 
experience <>f the truth and fulfilment of that gracious 
promise, k *My people shall dwell upon Mount Zion in 
Jerusalem ; they shall dwell in sure dwellings and in 
quiet resting-places, when it shall hail, coming down 
upon the forest, and the city shall he low, in a low 

place. 91 

Hut why should I write thus to thee? I am sure I had 



L I Tii"M.\- it. <;<au>. M)5 

no such expectation or intention when 1 began; Thou 
must try * for u pouring out " im- 

pr< thee, my dear elder brother, Bui it 

d thai good woman, Lydia A. Barcli md 

consolation in ><> doing : and truly, I have rery often 
thought and felt what a privilege it is, to have a friend one 
can feel freedom with; and what a consolation to receive 
letter- from such! How juBt and forcible her remarks 
are! What a precious letter! The reading of it did 
od. 1 fear her day of active usefulness in the 
church militant is over, but she will leave behind her a 
bright example of primitive faithfulness and consist- 
ency 

15th of the month. [Speaking of A. B., then ill, he 
says:] In th jpect of her and dear L. A. Barclay's 
removal, one cannot help remarking how the choicest and 
most faithful and usefu] instruments are being, in all pro- 
bability, released from further service in the church mili- 
tant, at a time when both Gog and Magog Beem to he 
gathered together to battle against the Lord and I Lis little 
despised army of tappers. But the sword of the Lord's 
mouth is able to put to flight the hosts of the alien.-' 
armies, and to manifest openly and renewedly, that there 
is "no king saved by the multitude of an host, neither is 
a mighty man delivered by much strength; that an horse 
is a vain thing for safety, neither can he deliver any by 
his great Btr< ngth : but that the eye of the Lord is upon 
them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy, 
to deliver their souls from death, and to keep them alive 
in famine/' And. as thou remarked in thy last letter, I 
hope He may be pleased to arise for the help of His poor 
and afflicted people, and accomplish His purposes respect- 
ing them in His own time and way 

Farewell. 

T. B. Gould. 



40G LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1855, 



CHAPTER VIII. 



From T. B. G. to William Hodgson. 

Newport, Est mo. 9th, 1855. 

My dear Friend, 

I recollect distinctly, having quoted, in the 
meeting at Germantown, the sixth verse of the ninth 
chapter of Isaiah, and that, after quoting the language, 
" His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor,' 1 J went 
on to Bay, "I purposely avoid distinguishing between the 
terms." I intended to guard against such a distinction. 
Since I came to age, I. have always regretted the comma 
between the words "Wonderful" and "Counsellor." Of 
latter years, I have been frequently pained by hearing 
them quoted in the gallery, with a long pause between 
them. It did not use to be BO: the early Friends, ordina- 
rily at least, when they used the passage in print, seemed 
to use the word, wonderful, in that sense that I understood 

it and used it, on the occasion referred to. I have no 

d<>ubt thai His name is Wonderful, and that it maybe fitly 
bo expressed at times; but in that place and on that occa- 
sion (as well as at other times), I wished to convey the 

idea, or rather to enforce the doctrine, that He is a It T <>n- 
derful Counsellor) as well as "the mighty Cod. the ever- 
lasting Father, and the Prince of Peace." And it seems 
to me to be more in harmony with the rest of that pas- 
sage, so to use or quote it. 1 desire to be preserved from 
needle-- and useless, as well as doubtful disputations, and 
J am not aware of being much given to it ; neither is this 

a subject that J ever spoke o[\ or heard spoken of, before, 



>, | THOMAS B. GOULD. 107 

that I know; and vol it is one thai 1 have often thought 
of, 1 was under the impression thai there were in that 
assemHj such as rainly trusting in the name of 

Christ, calling it Wonderful (as it truly is, and holy also; 
for Ili> name is called, and He is, the Word of God and 
the Power of God), without knowing Him to be their 
Qsellor to instruct them, or being willing to walk in 

the light of His counsel. I have never thought that the 

< 

punctuation and heading of the chapters, or the division 
into chapters and verses (however convenient), was infalli- 
bly correct. I have no doubt, that in Borne places the 
true sense has been marred or obscured, by the manner in 
which this has been done [by commentators], as well as by 
mistranslation, &c. : — although sufficiently clear, for all 
that : and I fully believe that the translators were even 
very much favored therein. But still I never like to hear 
the II"ly Scriptures termed the "sacred volume; 9 * an ex- 
pression which has been very common of late, but which 
I have always, I believe, avoided using; they not being, 
according to my observation, ever so termed in the Bible; 
and it seems to me that the terms, sacred and holy, apply 
to the matter and the doctrine, rather than to the mere 
book or volume 

Second month, Gth. 

P. S. — I returned home from Providence last evening, 
and found thine of the 30th ult. had arrived in my absence. 

I have had a suffering week of it physically, 

having been very closely employed, and laboriously too ; 

and have returned home, feeling almost worn out in that 
respect, yet mercifully somewhat comforted and refreshed 

in spirit, which is a great favor Our quarterly 

meeting was large, for us, and I thought a favored season, 
though mostly held in silence. C. W. spoke first, and was 
followed by N. P., in a short, but sweet, appropriate, ami 
lively testimony. No other voice was heard. I was greatly 
surprised, on reaching Valley Falls, third-day morning, to 
find that dear Rachel Thornton had been released during 
the previous night. I had not heard of her being more 
poorly, and had looked forward with pleasure, in hope of 



408 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18 

enjoying her company once more. Dear J, W. and myself 
yjsited the poor bereaved daughters thai evening, We 
had not more than taken our . when a preci< er- 

ing spread over us; and J. \\Y> mouth was soon livingly 
and powerfully opened, referring to Naomi and Ruth, and 
to the godly resolution of the latter, encouraging them to 
adopt it. and to follow their dear departed mother, as she 
had followed Christ; expressing also a firm belief and 
assurance that the dear departed friend had been merci- 
fully permitted, through greal tribulation, to enter into 
that everlasting rest which remaineth for the people of 
God. Ob sixth-day, the funeral took place at ten o'clock 

at the house; and. after the body was interred, a large 

and solemn meeting was held in the Baptist meeting-house, 
near the place of interment ; many Friends, who bad come 
to the quarterly meeting, staying to the funeral, and a 
goodly number of the inhabitants of the village. J. Wil- 
bur soon stood up with the words, "Mark the perfect man. 
and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace:" 
and after briefly referring to the deceased, as a mother in 
Israel, and to bis belied' that, through faithfulness to her 

Leader, the great tribulations through which she bad 
passed bad wrought for her a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory, and also speaking very weightily 
and pertinently to her relations and friends, he proceeded 
to -bow the great necessity which exists for all to know a 
living engagement to prepare an habitation for the God of 
Jacob to dwell in. even the perfecting of holiness in the 
fear of the Lord; seeing that He dwelleth not in temples 
made with bands, nor yet in nnsanetified hearts : and pro- 
ceeded to point out the work of righteousness, ami the 
necessity of the new birth unto holiness, without which no 
man sball see the Lord, nor experience Him to dwell with 
and in him. The very pith ami substance of the ( Christian 
religion — of ** primitive Christianity" — was revived and 
borne testimony unto, and a very solemn covering pre- 
vailed over the meeting ; under which I should have been 

glad it bad been permitted to dose without any addition; 

tor to me the cup Beemed lull, and the service of the 
meeting accomplished. But there was something more 



1 355. | THOMAS B. GOULD, L09 

attempted, which added nothing to the weight, in my view, 
though otherwise harmless. Surely wisdom remains to be 
the principal thing; and how desirable il is, with all our 
gettings, to get wisdom and understanding also! Ami 
silence often is wisdom; while Beeking to add words without 
renewed divine authority, surely and always is folly. In 
public communications, our dear, aged friend, J. W., 
surely does increase in brightness; and the weight of his 
spirit in private alSo is truly expressive of a religious awe, 
verifying the expressions of I tavid, k * They that be planted 
in the house of the Lord -hall flourish in the courts of our 
God. They Bhall still bring forth fruit in old age; they 
shall hr fat and flourishing." 

>nd month, 7th. 
[Alluding t<> his own health .at this time, he Bays]: 
Many <>f my friends here, are and have been no! a little 
apprehensive about it. notwithstanding I am generally 
about. But I can bear very little exposure, or exertion of 
any kind, without serious effects following upon it, being 
often obligdfl to stop two or three times in the course of a 
walk of a fourth of a mile. Everything, indeed, of an 
exciting nature, whether of pleasure or of pain, produces 
nearly the same effect. In the meeting at Fall Uiver. last 
first-day afternoon, I think I was not on my feet in all 
more than twenty minutes, and the last half of that time 
1 found it extremely difficult to utter what I had to say, 
from pain ami exhaustion. My throat is much better, and 
has been, since the last occasion of my raising blood, soon 
after W. Waring was here. What the end of it will be, I 
know not ; but there is a "need be" of preparation for it 
undoubtedly. I often think it is not far distant, and it 
does seem as if it might probably come very Suddenly. 
Although the pain which I suffer in my chest, cVc is almost 
constant, by night as well as by day, so that I gel but very 
little sleep, and it costs little to keep me, yet it is very 
much increased by exposure, cVc. : and 1 foci it a great 
mercy that I was permitted to get home before this ex- 
tremely cold weather came on. The thermometer, at noon 
yesterday, was five deirrees below zero, and eleven below 

35 



410 LIFH AND LETTERS OF [1866. 

Bero at ten o'clock last night : which is six or seven degrees 
coW r than I ever knew it an this island before, or indeed 
my father cither I ventured out but one- yester- 
day, then only to father's; it was quite too much, and 1 

have not tried it to-day My dear M. unites with 

me in love to you 

T. B. (iulLD. 

To Joshua Mauls. 

Newport, 25th of 3d mo., 1855. 

My dear Brother, J. Maulb, — 

Every part of thy letter of the 21st of second month 
was deeply interesting to me, neither was I disappointed 
in the account of things; by which it very plainly appears 
that the bitterness of death is by no means past. A little 
after. 1 received a letter, much in the same strain as thine, 
from Joseph Hobson. ... I was much interested to 
hear who was with you at the time of your quarterly 
meeting. Everything that relates to the state of things 
and individuals in Ohio is deeply interesting rV) mc Oh ! 
how strongly 1 feel bound to true-hearted Friends there! 
And greatly, though much in secret, do I mourn over 
many who are in great danger of turning entirely away 
backward, through the plausible but delusive snares of an 
arch-enemy, who is quite content that men should pose 
the form, and he very zealous for the form and outward 
order, if he can hut deprive them of the power and the 
life, and the substance ! 

1 am obliged by thy Bending John Vanlaw's letter: how 
(dear and lively, and to the point it was ! It was strength- 
ening and encouraging to as Do please tell me 

whatever thou hearest of Friends in Iowa. Do they still 
keep up their monthly meeting ? 1 hope BO, faithfully, 
and that they will not be discouraged, but patiently ** abide 
their time:" and I have no doubt there will be a service 
in it, that a blessing will rest upon the heads of those who 
have b mii separated from their brethren, and whose names 

have been casl out as evil, because they could not follow 

a multitude to do evil. I hope they will be preserved 



■•"».] THOMAS B. GK>1 l.I>. I I 1 

,ii making any compromises with the powers thai be. 
Oh! what harm has come of making compromises and 
con and giving the ground to the enemies of 

truth, for peace 1 sake! 1 have wanted much to write to 
Caleb, and tell him bo; i ae J thought he needed 

instruction, but to endeavor to encourage him and his 
friends, and to strengthen their hands. But I have Itch 

let hitherto My love is to N. P. and M. H., and 

dear little B. Oh, how truly kind they all were to us 
poor pilgrims and outcasts; and it is not a light or a 
small matter either, to be willing to be known as the 

tmpanions of Buch as arc bo used/ 1 as we were by some 
upon whose civility (if not hospitality), we had more than 
ordinary claims. But, upon them, we had not any other 
than ordinary ones; yet their hearts were opened to show 
us great kindness, not by constraint but willingly. . . . 
As ever, truly yours, 

T. B. Gould. 

To William Hodgson. 

Elmside, 4 tli mo., 9th, 1835. 

Mv VERY DEAR FllIEXD, 

JUn I wanted to say, that, since the Meeting 

fw Sufferings in Ohio, has undertaken to extend their 

jurisdiction beyond their own limits, even within the limits 
of Indiana Yearly Meeting, and beyond it. and to make all 
Friends who may remove to that vast territory, members 
of Stillwater Monthly Meeting; and since the power that 
controls the Philadelphia "Friend" has seemed to endorse 

this measure, I think that and company ought 

to hold their peace respecting a minute which our yearly 
meeting has found it needful to make respecting remov- 
als or settlements within our own borders.. Where was 
the authority, precedent, or usage, to justify the meet- 
ing for sufferings in Ohio in taking such a step? What 
becomes of order here? What will become of discipline, 
especially if your yearly meeting should continue your 
correspondence with Indiana ? Ah. I fear that it is hut 
as the beginning of disorder and confusion, that will follow, 



412 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1855. 

if those who are aiming at the same thins do not disre- 
gard consequences, and gel and keep closer together, and 
mingle more with one another; that so the advantage of 
various gifts, and degrees of experience and knowledge of 
the truth, may be reaped from a united labor, as well as 
exercise at a distance; according to ancient practice, and 
the original design of Him who gathered as to be a people, 
and while the fear of Him had more place amongst ns, 
and the fear of man less. Friends formerly spake often 
one unto another ; many ran to and fro in the earth, not 
in "ereaturely heat or zeal" either; and the Lord heark- 
ened and heard them, and light and knowledge were in- 
creased. Oh! what a cruel device of the enemy it has 
been and is, to put and keep things in such a shape, as to 
keep true Friends at a distance from each other. t<> sepa- 
rate verv friends, and to make them actually afraid one 
of another! But why should I run on in this strain? I 
am sure 1 cannot tell. Truly, thou never felt nearer or 
dearer tome: and as your yearly meeting has been ap- 
proaching, thou hast been increasingly, almost constantly. 
the companion of my thoughts, in near and true unity 
(according to my small measure), and with tender, heart- 
felt sympathy; earnestly desiring that thou mayst find 
grace to help thee in time of need, and that neither one 
thing nor another, neither heights nor depths, nor princi- 
palities nor powers, things present nor things to come, nor 
any other creature, may be able to turn thee aside from 
thy integrity in the truth and to the truth ; but that thou 
maysl be innocently hold in thy assertion of it. patient in 
Buffering for it, firm in thy adherence to it, immovable as 
a rock ! This much in brief 1 felt bound to tell thee, 
though not a tithe of what 1 feel; neither can what 1 feel 
for thee and manv more up and down amongst you, in the 
fulness and extent of it. be by me expressed in words. 
Neither am I devoid of feeling On my own account: and 

surely it could scarcely be otherwise, with such a pr< 
pect as I bave resting and increasingly pressing upon me, 

a- the time of my departure drawetb nigh; a prospect 

which, though not large, in a sense, yet truly it is large 
and heavy for me. And I do desire the help of the faith- 



1 [ 55, ] THOMAS B. 001 LD. 1 L9 

fill, in a united exercise. Oh, wha< a blessed help and 

•h it was i" me lasi fall! I was as truly sensible 

of khe unity, and travail, and ml ion, and (shall I 

f many, who were dipped into a feeling 

unity with thai concern, even when far distant from 

them, as though I had heard them breathing with my out- 

ward cars. And I have often thought, that the degreeof 

help and preservation vouchsafed, was, after the cause, 

mainly attributable thereto 

Thy true friend, 

T. B. Goulk 



To Ethan and Anna Foster. 

Newport, 15th of 4th mo., 1855. 

My dear Friends: 

Since I received Charles Perry's last letter, written on 
his return from Boston, we had not heard a word from 
vou, in any way, until yesterday; when, by way of East 

eenwich. we learned that your beloved little Hannah 
had been released from all her sufferings. During her 
illness, I often felt as if I would like to tell you that you 
had our very near sympathy, but seemed unavoidably pre- 
vented from so doing; and since we heard of your close 
bereavement, I have felt as if I must say that much to 
you, although not expecting to use many words, being, I 
think. Bomewhat sensible how far short of reaching such a 
wound any mere words must necessarily come. And yet 
I have, in a somewhat similar affliction, myself realized 
some consolation by the expression of the near sympathy 
of sincere friends. But what more than this could I say, 
by way of condolence, that you know not already? Time 
and resignation may, and no doubt will, take off the sharper 
edges, and partially heal up the wound which has been 
made in one of the dearest affections of your hearts; but 
the memory of hopes destroyed will continue. And if this 
dispensation of Unerring Wisdom and Divine Providence, 
without whose notice not even a sparrow falleth to the 
ground, has the happy effect of weakening your hold on 
the things of time, and fixing them more firmly on those 

35* 



414 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1855. 

that are above, and which are both unchangeable and of 
eternal duration; then you will doubtless be the better 
prepared to acknowledge, that "affliction springeth not 
out of the dust, nor trouble oul of the ground :" and that, 
although uo affliction for.the presenl seemeth to be joyous, 
but very grievous, nevertheless it will yield the peaceable 
fruits of righteousness to those thai are rightly exercised 
thereby, — and so you may be qualified to say, " For all 
we bless Thee, — mos1 for the severe ;" — " The Lord gave, 
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of 
the Lord ! n . . . Oh! what a blessed thing it is, to 
have things brought into, and kept in, their proper places ; 
to have the vessel, whether it be more or less honorable, 
sanctified, and made meet for the Master's ufee : and so to 
be furnished with mouth and wisdom, tongue and utter- 
ance, which all our adversaries shall not be able to gain- 
say, or entirely to resist 

1 remain, as ever, your sincere and affectionate friend, 

Thomas P>. (Jould. 



The prospect of paying a visit, in Gospel love, to some 
parts of New York Yearly Meeting, had remained with 
him ever since his visit to Ohio and Pennsylvania ; hut the 
time had not appeared to himself to be fully come for its 
accomplishment, until the spring of 1855; when he pre- 
pared to leave his home once more, for the fulfilment of 
what he believed was required of him. Writing to Charles 

Perry, on the 19th of the 4th month, he thus alludes to 

his approaching arduous engagement: — 

The prospect of leaving home is in itself con- 
siderable, and wears upon me, Or would do BO, even if that 

ami- all. I)iit then there are trials and baptisms connected 

with it. which are far greater and more wearing to poor 
flesh and blood; so that 1 need the sympathy and help of 

the faithful, in their nearest approaches to the Lord, that 

the precious cause may nol suffer by me: for these are 
indeed perilous time- for any to go forth in, and especially 

for me 



1 - THOMAS B. GO! LD. 1 L5 

To William HODGSON. 

Lin< olk, \'i:i:mont. 6th of 5th mo., 1 3 

Mi dbab Friend : 

I had been much more poorly for a week pre- 
vious, and quite unable to Bit up, most of the time, nor yet 
to get any adequate rest or Bleep in bed, my cough wa« 
constant and distressing, and my body bo full of pain. 
Yet, notwithstanding this, 1 did bo far recruit before the 
time came, aa to Bet forth against both wind and tide, lite- 
rally: lt « » i n u: up the river [or bay] in a sloop, in a gale of 
wind; but comfortably, compared with a ride in an open 
wagon, seven miles further than where we landed. But 

we were favored to reach brother George Kenyon's in 

- 

Bafety, before dark: and, through favor, J did not add 
much to my cold, and was blso enabled to Berve as clerk of 
the select quarterly meeting next day. the clerk being 
absent. The select meeting was small, and. I thought, a 
low time: the quarterly meeting the next day was to me 

a solid and interesting one 

On fifth-day afternoon, after quarterly meeting, avc took 
the ear to Valley Falls, and reached the house of our kind 
friends, Harvey and Anne Chaee, just as they did, avIio 
came in their own carriage. After tea, the family and my 
dear Israel went to bed, and I lay down on the sofa in the 
sitting-room, but could not lie even there, and well bol- 
stered up, too; and bo, without a wink of sleep myself, we 
Bet out again at one o'clock that morning, to Providence, 
six mile-, in II. C.'s carriage, with him for a driver; -where 
at three o'clock, we took the Boston train, reaching that 
city about sunrise, and at seven o'clock took the Fitchburg 
and Che-hire, and from that the Rutland and Burlington 
Railroad, and reached New Haven, Vermont, about five 
o'clock, p. M. ; from whence, by stage, we came to Bristol, 
six miles, over one of the worst road- I ever travelled, in 
an open wagon, too, and heavily loaded. At Bristol, which 
is at the foot of the Green Mountains, we hired a wagon 
and driver, and proceeded up the mountain five miles fur- 
ther, to the house of our kind friends, Pelatiah and Phebe 
L. Gove ; which we were favored to reach in safety, and 



416 LIFE AND LETTERS OF | 1 ^~>~). 

without the least accident, just after dark. They live high 
up the mountains, and in the midst of them, on either hand, 

cept to the north ; one of the highest peaks of the I rreeri 
Mountains being due east, and only about two miles to the 
foot of it from this bouse. Tin- scenery is grand and-wild 
in the extreme; and, although the weather is cold, corre- 
sponding with ours in the third month, and the sides of 
the mountains arc covered with snow, yet it is truly re- 
markable, and cause of much heartfelt gratitude, that this 
air does not pinch and search mo like our own : my cough 
is better, and so is my appetite, and I can draw a long, 
deep breath, without any pain in my lungs, which is more 
than I have been able to do for a long while before. 

()ar ride from Bristol to this place was all the way by 
the side of New Haven River, a rushing, noisy mountain 
stream, tumbling over a rough, rocky bed, with now and 
then a beautiful cascade pouring down the sides of the 
mountain into the main stream. But canst thou bear with 
me in all this? Truly, it is a liberty which is granted to 
me, Or which I am permitted to enjoy: and such scenery 

this is a source of much subordinate enjoyment to me. 
But that which affords me the most solid satisfaction, is the 4 
abundant evidence which has been mercifully afforded, that 

I am in my right place at present, in that I did break 
through the thick cloud of discouragements which sur- 
rounded me, and came here to visit these honest-liearted 
Friends. Thou little knowest how I have dreaded this 
part of my prospect. Scipio I could endure to look for- 
ward to, but Vermont was bitter and agonizing iii pros- 
pect, in my feeble and precarious Btate of health. Then, 
again, I was told that Friends here had, many of them, 
removed away to Iowa, &c; that others were going, and 

that such as remained were so poor that we should be al- 
most a burden to them. The first part was too true; hut 
there is a goodly little company left, to whom our visit has 
been none the le8S acceptable On account of their having 

been bo much Btripped. It has really seemed to do them 
>d, for the time being, at any rate, that we were con- 
strained to pay them a visit ; and I must confess that I 

have hern already amply rewarded for coming, if I should 



L855.] TH«.M Lfl i:. GOULD. I IT 

not receive another penny. Bui the draf) which I felt, 
was bo strong to this pari of the heritage, that I was not 
be deterred from making the attempt to visit them, 
cither by the Becrel reluctance which I fell to the journey 
at tlii d of the year, or by the report which 1 heard, 

that there waa " Dot much here to attract !" [ndeed, there 
is much roughness of exterior in many, but underlaid with 
sincerity of heart, and, as I think, more genuine Quaker- 
ism, more primitive simplicity and Christianity, than is 
ssed by many who appear much smoother on the sur- 
face. It is not likely we Bhall be able to visit all tin 4 
meetings in this quarter. Some of them are remote, 
and the roads bad, the frost not being yet out of the 
ground in many places. But the quarterly meeting is to 
be held next third, fourth, and fifth-days, at Starksbo- 
rough; of which I was glad, when I heard of it, since we 
came, and which seemed to be confirmatory of the recti- 
tude of the time of our coming, although we knew nothing 

of it before 

The meeting here at Lincoln to-day was much 

larger than I expacted, both of Friends and others; and 
yet they say it is reduced more than half in number since 
the separation, and quite recently, too, by deaths, disown- 

ments, and removals The meeting, though trying 

and laborious, was relieving and satisfactory to me, and 
also to others, so far as I could see or judge. But it is an 
awful service, and seems to be especially so when called 
upon to stand, as it were, between the living and the dead. 
and to be baptized for the dead ; and well may we say, 
"What advantageth it us, if the dead rise not':'' The 
remark in thine, that thou "looked upon this undertaking 
as a very different service from that which was laid upon 
me last fall," was in exact accordance with my own feel- 
ings and views respecting it. But I could not adequately 
express to thee in words, even if I had time, and was uot 
so weary, what preparatory plunges and baptism- it lias 
been my lot to pass through, or how completely emptied I 
have been of anything which (so to speak) I had gathered 
or experienced in that journey : so that I had nothing left 
to lean or rely upon, but the renewed qualification ; and, 



418 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1866. 

eventually, I received an incn 4 faith to believe that, 
as my y\i- was singly kepi to and upon Him with whom, 
or in whom, are all the treasures of wisdom and knowled 

the needful portion would nol be withheld Be 

assured that I am, as ever, thy sincere and affectionate 
friend, T. B. Gould. 



To Martha S. GouLd. 

Shkrwoods, L 7th of 5th month, 1855, 

)lv dbab Martha : 

I wrote to sister Lydia last second-day morning, at the 
house of Daniel Nichols, of Peru. New Xork ; which letter 
thou hast doubtless Been, and so J need not recapitulate 
what I Btated therein. We attended an appointed meeting 
at Peru, in Friends' meeting-house, at ten o'clock that 
morning, as was expected. It wa- -mall, there being but 
few Friends in that place and of this number were Burling 

and Lydia Hallock The meeting was satisfactory 

to me, and, in gome respects, rather extraordinary, — there 
being much tenderness and brokenneSS apparent in seve- 
ral : part of which was probably owing t<> its being the last 
time deai- Lydia Hallock was likely very soon t<> meet with 
the little company who are left there, by whom she ap- 
peared to he entirely heloved, and from whom she seemed 
irery reluctant to part, a- well as they from her. We dined 

at the house of Phebe Hoag ; and most of the members, 
and some other persons, went and dined with us there, 

making quite a large company Vfter tea, a young 

Friend took L. Hallock and daughter, 1. B. and myself, 

five Or BUS mile- in hi- wagon to Keesville ; where we got 
into the Stage, and rode BOme eight <>r ten miles further to 

Port Kent, on the western Bhore of -Lake Champlain. 1 lore 
we waiied until near midnight, for the steamboat southward 

to Whitehall, and arrived there ahout sunrise ; took the 

ear- to Schenectady, and bo to Aulmrn. ahout one hundred 
and fifty miles, which we reached about -unset. Here we 
lodged near; the depot, and close to the great State prison, 

in which there are ahout eight hundred prisoners. 1 had 

a good night's rest, and, at eight o'clock this morning, we 



1 - )5.] TIK nl'LP. Il'.» 

took stage for this place, and reached Sherwooda Post- 

offifce about noon; where we waited for the mail to be 

opened, and I r 1 thy ■■ elcome letter, w ritten 

first-day, which had all tin- wav in the satne 

carriage with us. a- well ;i- one written to d<>l» Otis bv 

• 

Friends in Vermont, more than a week aL r <>. requesting 
him to meet us at Auburn. I >ut the dear old man was 
overjoyed to -re us. The situation is delightful. So is the 
whole country in itself; ami the beauty, and bo t<» speak, 
the outward glory of it. greatly enhanced by the freshness 
and greenness <>{' early spring, the fruit-trees; except the 
apples, being in full bloom, ami the meadows and pastures 
covered with flowers. 

After dinner we went t" see Joseph Chase, who is very 
low He seemed in a quiet, comfortable state of 

mind. . . . AW' have had delightful weather, all through 

« 

Vermont and Northern New York, which was a great favor, 
where covered carriages are almost unknown, and they 
have been quite so to us. But it commenced raining the 
night before last, while we were on Lake Champlain, and 

rained steadily and powerfully all the way to Auburn, 
clearing up just before we got there, and we should other- 
wise have been exposed to it. Thus we have been favored, 
however truly unmerited, and I desire to he thankful. . . . 
Though I write cheerfully about the weather, scenery. &c., 
I am not without my exercises, peculiar exercises, adapted 
to the state of things here, which is peculiar; and so they 
were in v'ermont. according to the latitude and longitude 

of each place, &c 

Thine, 

T. B. Gould. 

To R. S. Nichols. 

Hector, X.Y., 21 si of 5th month, 1855. 

My dear Friend, U.S. Nichols: 

.... On awaking this morning, after having written 
to my precious Martha last evening, and been favored to 
sleep well from midnight till after sunrise, thou wast brought 

so sweetly and renewedly to my remembrance, that I 



420 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1855. 

though! I would just tell thee of it. although little more 
illicit arise. But I know thai thou will be glad to hear, 
that, notwithstanding I have not been favored with such 
an unusual degree of strength and clearness in testimony, 
as was th<' case lasl fall, vet I have been mercifully enabled 
hitherto t<> answer the service required at my hands, in a 
manner that has been relieving to my own mind, and also, 
I think, satisfactory and comforting to Friends. My lino 
of service has been more like seeking out the lost ami 
scattered sheep of the house of [srael, than in the way of 
the < rentiles, or in visiting the " cities of the Samaritans/ 1 
with whom now, as anciently, the Jews have little or no 
dealings in a general way. Yet it lias sometimes been laid 
upon me to cry against the separate altar, which has been 
up, a- in Bethel or in Dan ; and some of its votaries, or 
of those who, like Jeroboam, have been concerned in the 

erection and defence of this separate altar and its idol 
calf-worship, — or, in other words, will-worship, which re- 
mains to he idolatry. — have sometimes been present: but 
no one has been permitted openly to put forth his hand 
against me, or my unequivocal testimony, nor yel really to 
Bay, ** Lay hold on him!" The preciousnesa of standing 
within the walls of Jerusalem, the quiet habitation, whither 
the tribes go up to worship, and where the ark of the Lord's 
testimony and covenant rests, and is known, and entered 
into, and abode in: with the beauty of the situation of 
Mount Zion, and the strength and salvation of its Avails, 
have been much given me to hold forth to view? and, in 
short, glorious things have been given me to speak boldly 
concerning it ; and also of the godliness of Jacob's tents, 
and bo to labor for the gathering of Israel to their tent; 
that so. as the valleys, they may he again spread forth, 
and flourish "like cedar trees beside the waters, and as 
trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted." And 

however limited in ploughing or in planting, nor yet either 

eloquent in Bpeech, or mighty in the Scriptures, and BO not 

qualified to water so extensively, aid perhaps effectively 

a- many, yet the Great Head of the Church has been 

pleased to own my feeble efforts in His cause, and to give 
some increase of strength and consolation to a remnant. 



L856.] 






TIImM \> 


B. 


Q0ULD 


The 


meei 


tog 


terday 


it 


Sector 



421 



was large, quite fl 
« U \- numb< Friends being in attendant 

numbers and appearance. Several of oilier persuasions 
came in, and my mouth was opened largely, in a clo 
rching testimony; wherein 1 seemed to have stepping- 
laid for me from one state to another, a1 such dis- 
tances from each other that I could just reach them by 
carefully minding my goings, and keeping my feet, or 
rather by their being mercifully kept; and bo I was pre- 
yed from falling into the Bnare of judging after the 

hi of the eye, or the hearing of the ear; and I think 
tin* meeting ended solidly and well. This evening we had 
an appointed meeting at a Methodist meeting-house, in 
Truemansburg ; in which Truth favored with more than 
ordinary clearness and authority, in declaring the doc- 
trines of the Gospel, and especially as regards the spiri- 
tuality of them: and there did indeed seem to he a door of 
entrance mercifully opened in the hearts of a seeking, 
sober people; and Borne present, who were not for a time 
at all sober, were eventually solemnized in a truly remark- 
aide manner. 

We returned to the house of dear Charles and Sarah 
Owen to lodge, and the next morning set our faces east- 
ward again, towards Cayuga Lake; about two miles w< 
of which, we passed by the celebrated Taughanic Falls, in 
the town of Ulysses. This fall being two hundred and 
ten feet, and perpendicular, is sixty feel higher than th 
of Niagara ; but the sheel of water did not appear to be 
more than twenty or thirty feet wide, and the volume of 
water is not large, but beautiful indeed 

Believe me to be thy sincere and affectionate friend. 

T. B. Gould. 

To William Hodgson. 

Aurora, X. Y., 28th of fiftb month. 1855. 
My dear Friend, 

After attending the meeting at Lincoln, Vt., where I 
wrote thee, we attended their quarterly meeting, held at 
Starksborough, the same week ; and although it was 

3G 



4-2-2 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1855, 

smaller than T had expected, yet it was a good meeting, 
and 1 was well satisfied in being among them ; my being 
there did also appear to be satisfactory and encouraging 
to them. But it did nol appear surprising to me that 
they should feel somewhat discouraged; for no less than 
twenty-eight or thirty of their members have either gone 
this spring, or were about going, to the west, some of 
them to Iowa and some to Indiana. This has brought 
the remnant who arc left, under very close and renewed 
trial ; but it may be of use to them ; and there is indeed a 
goodly little company left, with whom, some of them espe- 
cially, my spirit was brought into near fellowship. We had 
a public meeting one evening in a little village at Starks- 
borough, in a Methodist meeting-house; which was well in 
the end, though hard and trying in the commencement; 
and another at Ferrisburg, not far from where dear old 
Joseph Hoag lived. There are hut two families of Friends 
there, and one of them, with wdiom we dined, was just 
about breaking up to go west. With these and some 
others of the emigrants I had some tendering labor. . . . 
We set out the next morning for Grand Isle, in Lake 
Champlain, a distance of forty miles. . . . We crossc 1 
the lake hv a bridge three miles in length, one halt' the 
distance being through a swamp, and among large tr( 
apparently growing in water; and the other half is built 
upon a Band-bar in the lake, which Friends used to ford at 
some seasons of the year, in going to their meetings, be- 
fore the bridge was built. This last distance, one mile 
and a half, we had to walk the horses ; and it was the 
roughest road, and apparently the most dangerous travel- 
ling, that I ever passed : although I thought 1 had endured 
some hardness before, in the line of had roads. After 
riding live or six miles northward on the island, we came 
t<» a kind Friend's house; where we stayed the night, and 
the next day. being iirM-day, the 13th of the month, 
attended their meeting: which was large, public notice of 
our being there having beeu given. There are hut two 

families of Friends on this island, and one aged woman, 

by the name of M. M , living with her children, who 

are GiirneyiteS. But she ifl a BWeet and lively-spirited 



5.] tiimm ks ; . [*D, 128 

minister, evincing remarkable greenness, and clearness of 

at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. She • 
at meeting; and Dear the close of it, lifted ap her voice 
like a trumpet, having something like a Beal to sel to 
what had been previously delivered. At the close of the 
meeting, on giving her my hand, holding it long and 

jely in hers, and viewing me from head to foot, with- 
out either of us uttering a word for Borne time, after a 
little time Bhe said, " Thou art a stranger to me as to the 
outward; 1 never saw thee before; thou dost not/',,/ like 
a stranger: I am glad to see thee here; and I am satis- 
fied, satisfied, satisfied!' 1 — shaking my hand heartily and 
most expressively. Her daughter stn.nl close by, appa- 
rently watching us both. The old woman was evidently 
aware of it. I was deeply interested in her, and admired 
her shrewdness, or rather her wisdom. But, on inviting 
me to the house, her daughter seconded the invitation; 
and 1 conditionally accepted it, and afterwards rode four 
or five miles to do So. She is a very striking and inter- 
esting example of primitive simplicity and plainness, wear- 
ing a brown linen bonnet, with strings of the same mate- 
rial, &c Friends and Gurneyites meet together 

on Grand Isle, on first-days; quite a company of friendly 
Hicksites came in when we were there, and many other 
people, forming a mixed company indeed ; so that it re- 
quired much careful looking, to find the stepping-stones, 
and to reach from one to another without slipping. But 
through favor the meeting ended well, and relievingly to 
my own mind. The next day a friendly llicksite set us 

r the west side of the lake in his boat, hut would by no 
means allow us to pay him for it, saying that he had 
been already more than paid. 

Grand Isle is a beautiful spot ; about the same size 
as our own dear island, and lying in the lake, much as 
Rhode Island lies in the blue waters of Narraganseti Bay. 
The mountains on either side being obscured, when we 
were there, by a thick, smoky atmosphere, the Bhores of 
Vermont on the east, and of Xcw York on the west, very 
much resembled the shores of our own lovely hay. But 
the shores of Grand Isle itself were in many places lined 



424 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1855. 

with splendid arbor vita trees, rendering them extremely 
picturesque and beautiful. We landed at Plattsburg, wh< 
our Friend, Daniel Nichols, met us, and took as twelve 
miles to his house at Peru. The uext day we had an ap- 
pointed meeting there, which was small, there being only 

three or four families of Friends, and about as many soli- 
tary individuals scattered among those who are not mem- 
bers. About twelve o'clock that night we took a steamboat 
and ran up Lake Champlain to Whitehall; and so by the 
rails through Saratoga, Syracuse, ^Vc, along the hanks of 
the Mohawk, to Auburn, where we lodged at a hotel : and 
the next morning went by stage to Sherwoods, and reached 
the house <>f my old and dear friend, Job Otis, where Ave 
met with a most welcome reception. It having been many 
years since we had met before, the warm-hearted old man 
was quite overcome, and wept like a child, notwithstanding 

his reputed hardness 

We at 1 elided the meeting at Hector on first-day, a week 
ago yesterday. It was large, and well, I think ; and some 
choice Friends we found there, and visited, I believe, to 
mutual satisfaction. The next evening we had an appointed 
meeting in a Methodist meeting-house at Truemansburg. 
among a tender, seeking people, and some light and airy 
spirits; many Friends also coming to it for miles around. 
1 felt much openness among them, and the Gospel of life 
and salvation was largely preached, in a degree, as I hum- 
bly trust, of its own power On fourth-day we 

attended their usual mid-week meeting here at Poplar 

Ridge, which was a good ami heavenly meeting 

The meeting-house is much too small, and was very much 
Crowded yesterday. Many Hicksites came in the after- 
noon, and a few Grurneyites: one of the latter, an aged, 
plain-looking man. Btopped me. us I was passing him at 
the close of it, and. in a tender and feeling manner, ex- 
pressed an earnest desire that 1 might continue faithful in 
the gift received, and to the testimony given me to hear, 

and BO he made instrumental of good to multitudes, as he 
1 had been the case to him: adding. *• It is the truth, 
the very truth, and there i- no other way (A' salvat ion." 
Both BittingS [of the yearly meeting] to-day 



1 v: ' : >. ] THOM iB B. 30ULD. 425 

were mercifully owned, bul little expression ; and the busi- 
ness much better conducted, and with far moi 
and propriety, than I expected would be the i tfter 

attending the meeting for sufferings renth-day, w] 

- rather trying to me. However, own thai would no1 
suffer at all in comparison with thai in , with 

the table. 

We hare a meeting appointed to-morrow evening, at 
seven o'clock, >!x miles from here, at a village called North- 

ville But H :-ncar 1 o'clock, third-day morning, 

and I must try to ome n farewell. In I 

unchangeable, I trust, to nd thii . 

Thy friend and brother, 

Thomas B. Gould. 
To Joshua Maulk. 

East Gri bnwu ii. R. I., 6th month, 3d, L855. 
My dkab Brother, Joshua Maulb: 

I am so lame, and in so much pain with my 

rheumatic affection, that I am not much in a writing 
mood; but I did want to let thee and dear sister Sarah 
W, how wonderfully Ave have been cared for, and favored 
to get along without any accident to harm us in the lea 
and with a remarkable improvement in my genera] health, 
as I was unable to sir up much of the time until within 
three days of my setting forth: which made the prospect 
of leaving home, and going into a cold, wilderness coun- 
try, as Vermont seemed to me then to be, and especially 
with such lung-, and no appetite, nor strength sufficient to 
do anything about home, look very discouraging. But 
cither the change of air, or some peculiarity in the moun- 
tain air, or the journey itself, or all three put together, 
had a very beneficial effect. I have sometimes thought it 
owing to the degree of relief afforded by the conscious- 
ness of being in the way of discharging the service re- 
quired of me in these parts: to which, after getting home 
once more (on my return from Ohio, &c), I had felt all my 
usual and natural reluctance to : out and go forth again, 
revive. Indeed it would never have answered for me to 



426 LIFE AND LETTERS OF | 1 S .V>. 

have :_ r <»nr thither in the winter, or even late in the fall; 
bo I had to carry thia burden all winter, until way did 
irly open, which was at length the case, and which in 
itself afforded some relief. And as to tlie time, I bel» 

ii could scarcely have been better 

The select meeting [al Starksboro'Jiras a trying one to 
me, and nearly silent; although, towards the close, I was 
enabled to obtain some relief, and it ended more satisfac- 
torily than I had expected for Borne time after sitting down 
among them. The two last-named meetings [the quarterly 
meeting l'<>v business, and the public meeting on fifth-day}, 
were very satisfactory, relieving, and remarkable oppor- 
tunities; the last especially s<>, ending in solemn, vocal 
thanksgiving, and praise ; in which nearly or quite all 
present Beemed prepared to unite, and many were exceed- 
ingly tendered and broken, and so continued to be until 
late in the afternoon, when Ave parted; they going to their 
respective places of abode, and we to an appointed meet- 
in--, at a village about two miles from Friends' meeting- 
house. It was held in a Methodist house, among a rather 
uncouth set of people, who were unreasonably long in 
gathering, and in other respects 1 was much tried. But 
truth at length arose for our help, and I was enabled to 
obtain relief, and left them with a peaceful mind. The 
next day we proceeded to Ferrisbufg, and, in the evening, 
had another appointed meeting, among a more experienced 
and cultivated Methodist people. To them my mouth was 
largely opened in declaring the truth, in a good degree of 

it- ancient and new power: the minds of many were seri- 

ously affected therewith, and the meeting ended solidly and 
well. ( Mi our way to this place, we passed close by Monk- 
ton meeting-house and burving-ground, in which lie the 
earthly remains of that good man, and able minister 
of the Gospel, Joseph Hoag, Monkton was the meeting 
he belonged to, and usually attended when at home, and 

his son also, in whose house he died 'The next 

day, being seventh-day, we rode forty miles to Grand 
[sle. ...'.. 

Thy affectionate brother, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



5, ] THOU kfl B, QOULD, ■!-• 

To Willi \m Hodgson. 

Elmside, I9tb of 6th m ... 1 E 
My deab Friend, 

1 reached my own dear home and beloved 
family on second-day, the fourth of this month, about 
noon: where 1 need scarcely Bay, I met a most welcome 
reception, and was rejoiced to find all as well as I could 

have expected 

I can thankfully and reverently acknowledge, 
that my northwestern journey affords me, in the retro- 
spec! inexpressible relief, and solid, peaceful satisfaction. 
Although I had not many meetings, and it seemed like 
spending a good deal of time to little purpose, in respect 
of the small number of meetings, &c, yet many remote 

Corners, and solitary individuals or families, were searched 

out and visited, in the love, and in a measure, I trust, of 
the power of the Gospel : sufficiently so, at least, to give 
us. and the testimony given me to bear, sopie place in their 

hearts, and to convince tliem in whose name we came. 
Neither have I been able to see that I omitted, or left un- 
done, anything that was required of me at this time. I 
may also say to thee, that, although I went forth truly 
without purse, or scrip, or any provision for the journe3 r , 
yet I lacked nothing, and. as I proceeded, was most abun- 
dantly provided for, helped, and furnished every way : 
though 1 had nothing over, nothing to boast of or to glory 
in, and do sincerely desire that the Lord alone may have 
the praise of His own work: for it was His work and His 
doings, and it is marvellous in my eyes, especially, con- 
sidering what a poor, weak, nothing creature I am. Oh! 
how greatly I have been and am condescended to and 
helped! And now my desire is, that 1 may be preserved 
alive, even in famine, and instructed afresh and continu- 
ally how to suffer want, as well as how to return thanks 
for past favors, and humbly to hope for more, even for 
such, and for such only, as are convenient and proper for 
me. 

. I was not without an apprehension, on enter- 
ing the village [of Northville], that I should have to ap- 



428 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [18 

point a nit'i tiflg in their Presbyterian meeting-house. . . . 
When third-day came, it appeared thai there was no sit- 
ting of the yearly meeting that afternoon; which afforded 
ample time to ride down thither, and was a collateral%vi- 
dence of its being the righl time for the meeting; although, 
at the time of making the appointment, I had no knowledge 
of their practice to have no sitting of the yearly meeting 
on third-day afternoon. My cousin Benjamin and Ids 
wife were to take Israel and myself down, and did so; but 
when we got there, I found my Scotch cousin not a little 
concerned about the whole thing, although she said no- 
thing, and was kind. But her great joy on first seeing 
me, appeared changed to apprehension, as to how it was 
to be got through with, evidently; while my aged aunt, 
more than eighty years of age, and who had not walked a 
step for two years, seemed so rejoiced at the prospect of 
being likely to attend a Friends' meeting once more, that 
she was making arrangements to be carried to it in her 
chair, the meeting-house being near their place of resi- 
dence. And her son, who, until now, had always seemed 
prejudiced against Friends, seemed to have exerted him- 
self greatly and remarkably to give notice of the meeting, 
and to make other arrangements for it. But his wil 
Scotch pride was up, as well as some fear, evidently, for 
her " religion- copyhold ; n for she said she had never for- 
gotten some things I said to her, on taking leave of her at 
the steamboat at Newport, nor her being at our silent 
meeting here, four or five years ago. She had always 
loved me dearly, since she first saw me, but she did not 
know what the result of this would be; though she would 
gladly, she said, "have gone to Poplar Ridge on Sunday," 
if she c«»uld have done so consistently with the rites of 

hospitality due to her old pastor, and her duty to him. \c. 
Well, we wont to the meeting (when the time came), which 
proved to be a large one, the house, which was large, being 

nearly filled. My knees were ready to smite together, for 

the whole prospect of this meeting, among my near rela- 
tives, had keen, from the first, more trying than I can 

express; much more so. even, than among strangers. 
Several Friends from the Ridge came down to attend it. 



1 B55. | THOMAS B. GOULD. I_ ( .> 

The meeting was ?ery early covered vritfa a pre- 
cious Bolemni imarkablv bo, considering the class of 
persons present ; I have rarely known the like in any 
place: and my mouth wa n opened amongsl them, 
having to tell them, in the first place, thai 1 was not only 
led to conic, 1 mt also to stand up amongst them, in weak- 
ness, and in fear, and in much trembling, and without the 
least expectation of doing any great thing; yet, as an ad- 

;itc for that cause which is dignified with immortality 
and crowned with eternal life, under a strong and renewed 

se and feeling of the love of the everlasting and glo- 
rious Gospel, and of its being, both immediately, and in- 
strumentally, and renewedly extended to them. And so 
I proceeded to -peak of the nature and character of the 
( rOSpel, its worship and ministry : how this w as received and 
exercised, and that the true and rightly called and quali- 
fied ministers of it were enabled to teach baptizingly into 
the very name of Jesus, ministering a portion of the power 
of the Gospel, and of the Word of Life and salvation to 
the people, — and distinguishing between this Word, which 
by the Gospel was preached unto them and in them, and 
the words of men and man-made ministers, and hirelings, 
and all will-worship, which is idolatry; — and showing how 
this ministry was neither received of man nor taught, but 
by the revelation of Jesus Christ; that if any speak in 
His name, he must speak as the oracle of God, and if 
any man minister, he must do it in that ability which He 
giveth, that He in all things might be glorified ; — and that 
they were of the circumcision, and they alone, who wor- 
ship Grod in spirit, rejoice alone in Christ Jesus, and have 
no confidence in the flesh. After this, the main doctrines 
and principles of the Christian religion, as held by Friends. 
were opened to my view, and largely declared, even the 
truth as it is in Jesus, and in a measure of its own demon- 
stration and power; which came mercifully and trium- 
phantly into dominion in the end, for the time being at 
least ; — and the meeting concluded, to my great relief and 
humbling admiration. When the people had mostly left 
the hou$e, perceiving that my aged aunt, who ^could not 
walk or help herself at all, was left nearly alone, I went 



430 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [1855. 

to her and sat down by her, while she waited to be carried 
out; which I n, my cousin James Gould, perceiving, 

he came to us, and inquired of me if I noticed a man. — 
describing him, — who sat in such a seat, pointing to it. 
Upon my answering in the negative, he said : " That is the 
man whom we have on trial, and think of calling to preach 
ferns: but he is young, still studying for the ministry, 
only preaches occasionally, and is not yet ordained; and 
I thought it truly remarkable that you Bhould have been 
led to speak so much upon the subject of the ministry in 
general, and the nature of the call to it, and the qualifica- 
tion for it, in particular, and especially that no assembly 
of people could either call or ordain a minister; that this 
was the sole prerogative of the Head of the Church : and 
that all that even the true Church could do, was to own, 
concur with, or acknowledge the gift, and receive the 
minister whom the Minister of all rightly gathered assem- 
blies might raise up, qualify, and send amongst them. I 
considered it." he continued, u a striking proof of the truth 
of what you subsequently said, that neither divine imme- 
diate revelation, nor the spirit of prophecy, had ceased; 
and that when it should cease, or if it should Cease, Chris- 
tianity would cease to exist, because, it' any man have not 
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." I told him I had 
been unable to tell why I was thus led, since I had been 
really under the impression that they had no settled 
minister (knowing their old one had gone), and that no 
such person was present ; but that I dared do no other 
than follow my Guide; and that, if a suitable opportunity 
occurred, he might let his friend know this; adding, that 
I hoped he would not suppose me to have been invidiously 
pointing at him. I le -aid, k> he believed no harm had been 

done, he hoped sonic 1 good; at any rate, he might and 
ought tO he instructed by it, for it was deeper far than he 
(the minister, SO called) had ever seen, known, or heard, 
and he was truly glad he was ihere :" to which my aged 
aunt fully and heartily responded. Her son and 1 to<»k 
her in our arms, and carried her out of the meeting-house, 
and -eating her in her carriage. >he rode home, where I 
Btayed the night. On reaching cousin James's house, a 



L855.] THOM \s B, GOULD. 181 

very different feelin apparent in bis wife, from what 

1 had discovered ing. She said, the m 

all too for her and for the people ; but thai 

was deeply concerned for me; that if I went on daily from 
meeting to meeting, at this rate. 1 would soon be worn out, 
and thai I must spare myself, &c. But I showed her more 
fully the ground of my concern, and that 1 must labor, a 
necessity being laiduponme; and was willing to labor 
freely, to Bpend and be spent in this cause, until I could 
.tin relief, and in order that I might finish the work 
allotted unto me, and the mini-try which I had received 
of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of I rod. 
But she still Beemed to think, that 1 must study a great 
deal, and think a great deal, or I could not (as she said 
Israel Buffinton had told her was the case), be thus engaged 
nearly every day, and two or three times a day sometimes, 
for months together. I asked her, if she saw any signs of 
study or premeditation in me, during the hours I had spent 
with her. immediately preceding the meeting? " Why, no, 
she had not : she noticed how freely I had spoken of other 
matters, saw no signs of preparation for the service of the 
meeting, and was greatly concerned as to what the result 
would he. Still," she added, " I watched you very closely 
in the meeting, and the most orthodox and learned divine 
could not have delivered a sounder communication, or more 
fully proved the truth of his positions and doctrines, by 
numerous and copious ({notations from the Scriptures 
adding, " they were as correctly given, too, as if they had 
been read from the book ; and I had previously no idea 
that the Friends were so entirely sound in doctrine, or that 
without any premeditation they could be so," &c. And 
her astonishment seemed not to be lessened, when I as- 
sured her, " that even when I stood up in that meeting, I 
had nothing before me save my concern, the evidence that 
my time had come, and the sentence which I commenced 
with." She was full of inquiry; much opportunity was 
afforded for an explanation of our principles on many 
points ; and, although they would willingly, I believe, have 
sat up till morning, yet, finding anchorage ground at 
length, I left them, and went to bed. 



432 LIBB WD BETTERS OF [18.")."). 

.... But truly, dear William, T had no intention of 
ing into such a detail when I commenced, and I fear it 
will prove tedious and burdensome to thee ; neither have 1 
done the like before, in respect of this journey ai least. 
But knowing and feeling how kindly and deeply thou hi 
been interested in my getting along, I was willing to give 
thee some account of one very exercising engagement, 
although, much as I have written, I have not told thee 
one-half of this, or near it ; but thou canst probably, from 
this, form some idea of others which were constantly occur- 
ring ; in which I can truly and thankfully acknowledge, that 
I did afresh and repeatedly experience verified the truth 
of a communication which dear Mildred Radcliffe made to 
me many years ago, to wit : that, if I were faithful to what 
would he required of me, the key of the treasury and 
rehouse would be given me, and therein 1 should find 
all sorts of instruments, skilfully and exactly adapted to 
every work and service whereunto I should be called. 
And it is only to the praise of that Grace and Power, by 
which I am what 1 am, that these things are mentioned, 

and if it may he, for thy encouragement also. 

Nothing out of the usual course occurred in our own yearly 

meeting, except that many Friends who have never failed 
to get here before, since the 4 reparation, were detained by 
BicknOSS themselves or in their families. But others came 
in, who had not previously attended, so that with tie 
here from abroad, it was nearly or quite as large as com- 
mon : and I thought the public meetings, as well as those for 
discipline, were remarkably owned, and more than usually 
preserved from being hurt by unsanctified and unskilful 
communications. Our dear friend was largely 

engaged on iirst-dav morning and fifth-day. As for J. W. 

and myself, we were both, I believe, well satisfied to see 

good work well done l.y others, except during a visit which 
1 was concerned to pay to the women's meeting on third- 
day afternoon, and some ch»>e Bervice which he (J. W-), 
had ill the select meeting. Several of the sittings were 

remarkably owned, during the time not occupied by any 
ministerial labor; and the business was conducted, through- 
out, in much unity and harmony: although some deeply 



1855. ] TII(»M \s i:. GOULD, L89 

-c«l minds were do! insensible of the need of m 
dedication, closer ei nent, and increased faithfuln< 

in the support of Truth's cause and testimony. . . . 
The m ended solemnly, silently, and well. 

Farewell. 

A.s ever, truly and rely thy friend, 

Thomas 1». Gould. 



To William Hodgson. 

Elmside, 22d of 6th month, 1 B 55. 
Mv ENDEARED FRIEND AND BROTHER: 

Thine of the 19th inst", is just received, and was truly 
acceptable and appropriate. I was particularly struck 
with thy remarks respecting my own state, in a retrospect 
of my late little embassy ; for truly the language has been 
adopted again and again, before I received thy letter, and 
mercifully verified also: "Return to thy rest, 0! my 
soul, for the Lord thy God has dealt bountifully with 
thee." This I can say and acknowledge without boast- 
ing, or any feeling like unto it. I might also truly add, 
" What shall I render unto Him for all His benefits?" — 
although I have been left to feel enough of stripping and 
desertion, as I trust, to keep me under a true sense, in 
whom and from whom are all my fresh springs of consola- 
tion, and ability to do good or communicate it; and that, 
when all has been done that seems to be required for the 
time being, I am still an unprofitable servant, having done 
no more than was my duty to do, and having nothing but 
what I also received from Him; who is mercifully pleased 
to accept J lis own work, and to reward abundantly for it, 
notwithstanding the weakness which still attaches to the 
creature, and the imperfections of the instrument employed 
therein 

In great haste, but true love to thee and the oause, 

Farewell, 

Thomas B, (Jould. 

37 



434 LIFE AND LETTERS OF [1855. 

To William Hodgson. 

Elmside, 10th of 1 1 ili month, 1855. 

My beloved Friend : 

I have hastily written this much after all 

have retired ; and although it may be too late to be avail- 
ing, yet L think I shall let it L r <> for what it may be worth. 
It may serve to show thee, and I hope it will convince you 
both, that although, bo far as you have seen or could s< 
appearances have been all against me, yet my will has 
been good to write, and indeed I have tried hard to do it. 
And. dear William, hast thou not had sonic sense of my 
captivity, my deep captivity; of the perishing hunger 
and the famishing want, which I have endured? Oh, how 
I have been tossed ! No tongue can utter it, nor the pen 
of the most ready writer adequately and fully describe. 

And even, now, I see little hope, hut that things will ir<> 
almost u by the board:" at any rate, such as are saved, 
w ill he a mere handful, " some on boards and some on 
broken pieces of the ship :" for the treacherous dealer hath 
dealt and is dealing exceeding treacherously; and the 
spoiler hath grievously spoiled, and is spoiling, or seeking 
to spoil. I believe, some who have hitherto in good degree 
mercifully escaped. 

Oh : that letter from to W. W. ! I was so 

sorry to hear he had written it! — for what good can he 
expected from such a time-server as he lias proved himself 
to be? Ami yet how much it is to be feared, that even 
such out-of-door sympathy and encouragement will have a 
"conservative" influence and effect; and is there not 
reason to fear it was designed to have such an effect ? 
Alas! how many wheels there are within wheels, in th< 
degenerate days, these days of treading down and per- 
plexity! Neither is it to be doubted, that sonic who have 
been in good measure battle-proof, arc not wheedle-proof ; 
especially if they "have not known," or do not know, 
"the depths of Satan, as they Speak" who resort to 

wheedling ) and other unworthy methods of accomplishing 

their ends upon the unsuspecting and unwary. Oh, for 

more honest simplicity and straightforwardness! although 



1855, ] THOMAS B. Q01 M>. 185 

it may Bubjecl a man to the charge of u raking up old 
matters/ 1 and may Beem to shake the very pillars upon 
which the house is reputed to rest ; said pillars, by the 
way, being so very tottlish, that, although shoulder may 
be joined to Bhoulder in the effort to steady them, it will 
all prove eventually unavailing; for everything that can 
be Btiaken will be shaken, that only that which is immov- 
able may remain. Don't regard being called u a disturber 
of the peace :" the charge seemed as familiar to me, as an 

household word 

Farewell. In unabated and dear love to you all, in 
which my dear Martha desires to be included, 

Thy sincere though tribulated brother, 

T. B. Gould. 



To Joshua and Sarah Maule. 

Newport, 11th month, 10th, 1855. 
My dear Brother and Sister : 

We received the letter, containing the afflicting intelli- 
gence of the sickness of dear little Henry, and the afflict- 
ing termination of it, a week ago yesterday, and sent the 
letter by the next mail to Greenwich. It was not for 
want of near and tender sympathy with you, that we have 
not Written sooner. . . . No doubt this has been a most 
bitter cup for you. But what can I say that will have a 
tendency to sweeten it? You know as well as I do, and 
perhaps better, where and how to look for help to enable 
you to bear it, and to reap the benefit designed by this 
dispensation of Divine Providence, which, in inscrutable 
and unerring wisdom, has been meted out to you ; and 
you are, I trust, "in no danger of supposing that it is a mere 
••chance" that has happened to you. 1 have myself no 
doubt, that in this case the expression of the poet will 
apply with full force : 



u In love directed] and La mercy meant, 
Arc trials suffered and afflictions sent.' 



And if it should have the effect of further refinement upon 
you; if it should be a means of weaning you from the 



436 LIFE AND LETTERS 01 [1 855. 

world, and rendering yon more meet for the kingdom of 
heaven, the end will do doubt be happily accomplished. 
I )ur dear lore is to yon all. 

t. r>. g. 

To C. C. <:., OF VERMONT* 

Elm side, Newport, 12th mo. 16th, 1855. 
My dbab Friend: 

It is now more than two months since I received thy 
kind letter, which was very acceptable to me, and which I 
have often thought I would like to reply to ; but I have 
had little time of late for writing, and even less qualification 

for ir. Neither is it probable that I can now do much m 
than just let thee know that thou and thy dear parents, as 
well as other Friends in your beautiful country, are still 
had in affectionate remembrance ; nor do I think it prob- 
able that either your kindness to us as strangers and pil- 
grims, or the grand scenery in the midst of which you live, 
and by which you are continually surrounded, will ever he 
forgottt n while memory lasts. Truly I have great reason 
to remember mv visit to you. with solid satisfaction and 
thankfulness ; as it not only proved relieving to my mind, 
of a heavy burden which had long rested painfully upon 
it. in anticipation of many difficulties which either had no 
real existence, or were mercifully made easy and removed: 
hut your mountain air. the effect of which upon my weak and 
irritated lungs 1 had dreaded so much, has seemed to prove 
nf singular benefit to me in that respect; my lungs, since 
I was there, having been restored to more strength and 
soundness, apparently, than for a long time before; more 
so, indeed, than 1 had ever expected they would be again; 
although my health, in divers other respects, has been 
wy\ indifferent during much of the past summer and au- 
tumn. 

.... I never could Bit down and j><(t<-li-)i p what some 
might call a religious letter; hut which 1 should call dry 

and [ifeleSS, a mere hatch of >eii l inieii t ality. or a repeti- 
tion of desires and supposed experiences, which, if they 
were ever well-founded, had become too stale and stereo- 
typed to he worth anything. 1 would myself prefer to 



I v - ••>. j l BOM \> i LD. I ,7 

write and I eive the most ordinary and natural 

thoughts upon common things and occurrenci . 

they were innocent, unh bc a nothing of a higher 01 

does occur in a lively manner; and if thai is the 

children and illiterate persons haveseldom found any great 

difficulty in giving utterance to such impression 

thai thou needed not to have apologized to me, for what 

med i" thyself the commonplace character of thy letter, 
or for the iniK.ee, n freedom used therein, for [was un- 

feignedly pleased with both 

Av }' :i,1 . v more of your members likely to leave you, and 

Wert : [f so, you must try to keep' up your meetings, 
and strengthen the things which remain. * J do hope, dear 
young woman, that thou wilt be careful to keep close to 
the tendering visitations of Beavenly Good, and the mani- 
festations of Divine Light and Grace which thou 1 
already received; and also be obedient to those discoveries 
of the mind and will of thy Heavenly Father, concerning 
thyself and the way of truth, which, as thou art faithful, 
will vet further be revealed. Thar so, as thou growest 
older in year., thou mayst also experience a growth in the 
truth, and in the savin- knowledge of Him, whom to know 

ife eternal : and that ethers may continue to be encour- 

1. by thy consistent example, to maintain a faithful 
testimony to all those precious and peculiar principles 
which have assuredly been given us to held, including 
those in regard to plainness both of dress and address, of 
speech and behaviour. Oh! there is something remark- 
ably sweet and convincing in the conduct of those young 
persons, members of our poor, shattered Society, who 
manifest by an humble, self-denying, cross-bearing deport- 
ment, that the principles in which they were educated 
have not been adopted as a thing of course, or receive d by 
tradition and education merely: but arc the result of 
heartfelt conviction, ami the manifestations of that Divine 
Light, which is "the true Light that lighteth every man 
that cometh into the world." and in which there' is no 
darkness at all, nor any occasion of Btumbling whatever. 
. . . This has been written in much haste, and thou 

.;; 



I. in: .WD LETTERS OF [1856. 

miisl excuse the appearance of it. I remain thy sincere 
friend, 

Thomas B. Gould. 



To W. AND E. R. EODGS >N. 

Elmside, 1st month, I9tb, 1856. 

Mv \i:kv dear Friends : 

I received recently a long, good letter, from 

1). II. Without having heard anything of me for a long 
while, he seemed remarkably dipped into a sense of my 
-taio; and it was very pleasant and acceptable to me to 
he thus remembered for e;<><>d by the goodly in the land of 
the living; although it failed to raise me up. the place of 
my dwelling being yel " among the pots." Still, if I may 
be permitted to Bay bo, 1 am nevertheless at times made 
sensible of the travail, intercession, and help of the faith- 
ful, when the sceptre is held forth unto them, although not 
otherwise permitted to behold its extension ; and that, too, 
in great mercy, even when theydo not tell me BO in words. 
But 1 do not mean to complain, knowing that I am unwor- 
thy of the least of the Lord's mercies: and if my life is 
only preserved, and given me for a prey, and 1 am but 
enabled to stand in my lot to the end and at the end of the 
days, it is no matter how low I am brought, either in my 
own eye- or those of others ; some of whom, no doubt, are 
ready to say, "Ah ha ! so would we have it !" 

We had the most severe snow-storm, a week 

ago last first-day, that has been known here for many 
years : and the next third-day night, between ten and 
twelve o'clock, the "Truro Street House," and four or 
five other and -mailer houses, were entirely destroyed by 
fire. All the buildings were of wood, the wind was high, 
and the secne terrific ! That great house was consumed 
like a heap of dry shavings, and the whole town, and 
o untry round, were lighted up with a brilliancy almost 
equal to daylight. The heavens were overcast with a dense 
squall cloud, and the ground covered with snow to a depth 
which rendered many of the streets entirely impassable; 



•'.. | TftOMAS B. 001 LD. 189 

the thermom nly two degrees above eero, and the 

\\ A - i that the whole fashionable pari of the 

town being I from destruction, seems remarkable, and, 

under Providence, is mainly attributable to the gi 
quantity of Bnow on the ground, and on the roof- <»f the 
houses 

Our rocks and shores present a very different aspect now 
from what they did when you were here; but truly they 
are very fine, even in winter; and I think that you would 
agree with me in this remark, if you could see them now. 
The contn ween the loi nts and bold promonto- 

ries covered with Bnow, and the deep blue -> a, is very fine, 
and render- the 3cen$ particularly striking and truly mag- 
nificent. Last fourth-day the sea was as Btill as a mill- 
pond. I was at the south shore about a month since, 
directly after a -Tea; storm; the sea was then almost as 
white with loam as the ground now is with snow ; and the 
foam was driven, by the force of the wind, into every little 
inlet, in such quantities and heaps, that we could not go 
very near the shore without being ourselves covered with 

it It is, indeed, a great and unspeakable favor, 

that my health is ><> good, and that we arc all preserved 
in health : and thou wilt not marvel, with the knowledge 
thou hast of my natural temperament, that it has a good 
effect upon my spirits 

My M. S. Gt. unite.- with me in dear love to you all. 
Farewell. * 

As ever, your sincere and affectionate friend. 

Thomas I). Gould. 



The labors and services of this faithful watchman, and 
Boldier in the Church militant, had been commenced in 
very early life; and he continued unabated in his zeal for 
the truth as it is in Jesus, and firm in his testimony against 
all innovations on it, or perversions thereof. But his 
Divine Lord and Master now saw it right, in Jli> inscru- 
table wisdom, after he had suffered awhile in those afflic- 
tions of the body which still remained for him to fulfil, for 



-I 10 LI! i: and LETTERS OF [1856. 

the Church's sake, and For hie entire purification and pre- 
paration [\>v the world to come, to remove him from further 
conflict and trial, and receive him to Himself, as fruit early 
ripened for 1 [is lna\ enlj garner. 

Since his journey in Vermont and New York, his health 

had generally been quite as g 1 as usual for him ; but in 

the latter part of the first month of L856, having taken 
cold, lie was revisited severely with asthma, which eon- 
Biderably reduced his strength. After this attack subsided, 
on the first day of the second month lie was taken with a 
heavy chill, followed by high fever, and subsequently by 
acute pain iii his right side, and other symptoms of pleu- 
risy.* He had much difficulty in breathing, and became 
rapidly prostrated. During the early part of his sickn< 
his mind was evidently deeply engaged in frequent waiting 
on the Almighty, yet without much vocal expression of 
his Feelings. Hut about the beginning of the second week 
after the attack, his mouth was opened in thankfulness to 
the Lord for the sweet incomes of His love and life. He 
broke forth, that morning, in tin- following acknowledg- 
ment of His goodness and mercy: **oh! the fulness of 
joy — the abundance of Jli^ goodness — the sweet peace — 

the glory that J feel ! I could sine; of it ! Yet nothing 
IS of myself — ii is all in mercy! 1 have not attained to 
these things through a multiplicity of petitions. Oh no! 
All that I could do was to throw myself at Jesus' feet; 
and in His own time, when He saw I had nothing of my 
own. He was pleased to pour in the oil and the wine." He 
marvelled that such an experience should have been vouch- 
safed to him, saying that it was beyoftd anything he had 
ever conceived ; that lie had never asked anything hut the 
lowesl seat ; yet. lo! the gates of heaven had been opened 

unto him, and he had heen permitted to see a mansion 

prepared lor him ! Alluding afterward to his bodily suf- 
ferings, he remarked, that they were intended to bring him 

low. and additionally purify him: adding, " But the Lord 

* This account of hjs sickness and death is compiled from the 
cnorial of him issued by Rhode [stand Monthly Meeting, and from 
memoranda and letters from the family, ad< to the editor during 

. or trery Boon after his d< 



1 856.] I HOM IS B. 901 LD, 1 \ 1 

Bnpportfl me, and He will supporl me. My life ban 
it were, upon a single point; I have been aware of my 
critical situation ; and the power thai supports me is the 
I l'a power." 

On the ninth day of his sickness he was brought very 
low, and for several hours appeared to be near the clo 
in the evening, however, he revived; bul continued fco have 
very low Binkmg turn- at interval- during the night. On 
recovering from one of them, he said, " I have had a 
severe conflict with death; and now the sting of death is 
taken away." Again, in a few hours, he appeared to be 
sinking rapidly ; but after a time revived, and exclaimed 
aloud, u Another victory! another victory! The grave 
has lost it- terror- now." And once again, toward- morn- 
ing, on reviving from a similar great prostration, he Baid, 
"Now 1 have triumphed over death, hell, and the grave! 
These are hard words, but they are true. Christ has 
given me the victory.** 

On third-day. the twelfth of the month, his brother-in- 
law, George Kenyon, coming to sec him, lie said, on his 
entering the room. "Although my earthly house of tins 
tabernacle he dissolved. I have a building of God, an house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'* Again, 
" My weaknesses and propensities have been as a cloud, 
and as a thick cloud, they have been blotted out. My 
sins have all been forgiven ; I have been sanctified, and 
thoroughly cleansed.'' 

On fourth-day morning, when asked by J. B., how he 
had passed the night, he said, "This has been a crowning 
night to me: I have -ecu things not lawful to be uttered!" 
The same day. a friend calling to see him, he said, "I 
seem to have been all day grasping for life, holding on to 
it as by a single thread ; but I have been wonderfully 
iforted, and strengthened, and helped/' Then, alluding 
to a time previous to his illness, he remarked, U I looked 
all night for my Beloved; I Bought him in the streets, but 
I could not find Him, He hid Himself i'v<>u\ me: but He 
has comforted and strengthened me DOW." lie then ex- 
claimed, "Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God 
Almighty! — just and true are Thy ways, thou King of 



442 liii: am> LETTERS OF [1856. 

saints." The Bame day he said, "The Lord had made all 
hia bed in this Bicknesi — thai it was a< a bed of roses." 
1 [e was bo low that he waa desired aot to exert himself too 
much to speak : but he replied, " When the Master is 
pleased to say it is enough, I can be silent :" that, although 
he was bo very weak and low, he Bhould be supported; 
then added, "This is very different from anything I ever 
anticipated, to have bo much to Bay at such a time as this. 
There arc times when words must be spoken; and it' they 
arc not spoken, the very stones would cry out." 

On fifth-day evening, after lying some time in a state 
of great quietness and exhaustion, seeming scarcely to 
breathe, he suddenly revived, and exclaimed in a clear 
voice, "Glory! glory! hallelujah! — Oh! I could sing of 
redemption, of this great redemption; and of regenera- 
tion, of thorough, heartfelt regeneration." The family 
coming into the room, he continued speaking in this tri- 
umphant strain of praise and thanksgiving for about half 
an hour; during which, among other expressions, lie re- 
peated, with great emphasis, "Out of Zion, the perfection 
of beauty, God hath shined." After this, he again sunk 
very low for a time; and when a little revived, he repeated 
this passage: "Filling up that which is behind, of the Buf- 
ferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is 
the Church." 

During the night, he said to those about him: "I am 
going to take a little rest now, and in that rest I may leave 
you; if 1 do, you will know that I am safe; I am going 
to Bleep on dou-' bosom." lie then fell asleep. At 

another time lie said : % * IIow r often, of late, have 1 longed 

for real — rest and quiet! — Oh, how joyous would be that 

resl ! But thi8 desire to go, is not resignation — 1 must 
know a perfect willingness wrought in me to remain, to 
perform some service which has been shown me in times 
past, hut which I shrunk from, on account of the painful 
nature of it. But Cor this unfaithfulness, 1 might have 
passed away this beautiful morning, as the i\[\y dawned, 
and been forever at rest." After a time, lie was favored 

to experience an entire resignation of his own will; and 
said, "Now> 1 can truly .-ay. not my will, hut thine, ( I 



1 S -V>. J THOMAS B. GOULD. I L8 

Lord, be done." It was not until he had thus become 
fully resigned to perform the deeply exercisin ice, 

which he had fell to be required of him, thai the will ap- 
pears to have been accepted for the deed, and the work 
cut short in righteousness. He experienced many low 
Beasons; and at such a time said : "1 see what is for me; 
there is great relief, great blessing in Btore for me — but 1 
am too low to receive it; too ttw. I must be raised up; 

1 can't lay hold of it." And then, after a time of reve- 
rent silence, songs of praise ami thanksgiving Bowed from 
his lips, in clear, audible tones. 

At one time, he d all to be very quiet : and said. 

lie wanted to be sure that the Captain of his soul's salva- 
tion was kept en board hid little barque — he must not lose 

Sight of Him. At another time, he exclaimed. ** Surely, 
this is the house of God, thfe is the gate of heaven:" and 
repeated it several times. " Lift up. lift up. oh ye gal 
that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may 
enter in." Again, he repeated, "The glorious Lord will 
l»e unto us a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein 
shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass 
thereby." He said, " I see no danger in humiliation, but 
great danger in exaltation." Sometimes he would ex- 
claim. "Glory! glory! hallelujah! praise the Lord:" 
and Baid, "he felt lifted above all things. — the moon was 
under his feet — his joy was full: there were rivers of joy, 
fountains of joy. and he was bathing in it." And the 
room did seem at such times to be filled with the Divine 
Presence. He said, he had read accounts of the triumphs 
of ancient worthies, but it had been mere history to him, 
compared with this. He could not have thought it pos- 
sible for man so to taste the joys of heaven, and remain 
in the body. At times, he spoke to the states of those 
around him, in a manner that was to them truly memora- 
ble, seeming to have a vivid sense of their feelings and 
thoughts. On one of these occasions, he had been saying 
something so remarkable, that his brother-in-law felt a 
momentary doubt, whether there was not a little undue 
excitement of mind, but remained silent. The moment 
this doubt arose, Thomas suddenly stopped, and looking 



■1 I \ \AV\: AND LETTERS OF [18 

anxiously a1 him, Baid: " Brother George, thou art doubt- 
ing! Don't doubl again: it will lead thee into difficulty. 
What 1 have said, is truth 1" 

At one time, when permitted to be closely tried, he ex- 
claimed, in tones of agony, "] shall be swallowed up! 
I shall be swallowed up!" — but very soon afterwards 
he solemnly petitioned, "Holy Father, vouchsafe thine 
aid!" — and continued in vocal supplication for some mi- 
nutes. When he ceased, the overflowings of divine con- 
solation were so great, that he cried out, "they were all 
too much ; that there was not room to receive all the good- 
ness that the Lord had revealed to him, a poor worm of 
the dust." In speaking of this extremity afterwards, he 
said, "I was made more than conqueror," &c. On one 
occasion he said: "My faith is strong; I Jive by faith, 
yet not I, but Christ within me. Tt is the Lord's power, 
that supports me and keeps me alive." 

He expressed admiration that lie should be called upon 
to Bay so much, remarking, Wk I have not been accustomed 
to speak of my own attainments — Martha, thou knowest 
that I have not. But now I can do no other." That 
Mime had passed through these things without saying 
much, but that it was his duty to proclaim them: and he 
exclaimed, "Oh. the fulness of Divine Love! it is as a 
river to swim in!" — often repeating the words, "Holy, 
holy, holy: worthy, worthy!" vS:c. 

On the eighteenth of the month, lie had a suffering 
night, and said more than once in a whisper (for now his 
voice had much failed, and articulation was difficult), 
" How long, deai- Saviour, how long?" 

He wa< remarkably relieved of anxiety in regard to the 
-late of the Society: far more so than usual. Speaking 
of its -battered condition, he said, " We must leave it in 
the hand- of the Lord; for He will have the ordering* of 

* Son.<- have of late attempted t<» bHow from this saying, that Thomas 
B. G-ould's view here was to inculcate the need of our giving up "con- 
tending for the faith" altogether t<> the Lord, in a confidence that He 
would hims< {/"bring about His own work without the usi of instruments ; 
h reasonera intending by this, to imply, that a continued holding op 
of (he testimony through all opposition, is creaturely zeal; ami so to 



1 vV>.] THOMAS B. GOULD. 1 15 

the battle ;" repeating it many times over; and adding, 
k * tlh no cause for discouragement/ ' 

Once when he Beemed to speak, being asked it* he wanted 
anything, he replied, "I hear Bweet music, rapturous 
music, songs of the redeemed!" At another time, during 
this night, he Beemed somewhat restless; when a part of 
the 103d Psalm was repeated to him. When he heard the 
words, w * Who redeemeth thy life from destruction/ 1 he 
I, " Yes, He has redeemed it, and He will redeem it." 

On fourth-day, the twentieth of the month, being two 
days before his close, lie Beemed to have less to Bay than 
usual, and to bo very thoughtful. When inquired of, if 
he felt more poorly, he replied, " My thoughts are full of 
immortality and eternal life." 

, A friend, who was frequently with him during his ill- 
ness, thus writes : 

" If I had a memory as some have, how many things 
of deep interest I could tell ; but the sweet, full, over- 
flowing sense of his perfection and everlasting happiness 
is more to me than all. I have read many accounts of 
great and good men ending their days full of hope and in 
great peace; but never did I dream that I should have 
the privilege of being a witness of the power and glory of 
God through Jesus Christ, being revealed in so wonderful 
a manner in one of His servants. Thomas said, when 
recounting the unspeakable favors which he had received, 
' that very few in this latter day had been permitted to see 
what he had seen.' At one time, he thanked the Lord, 
that he had been counted worthy to suffer persecution for 
His Name's sake. Once when I went in to see him, he 
held my hand, and began to speak in the most sweet and 
prophetic strain, of great companies which should be gath- 
ered together, to hear the preaching and receive the sweet 

slacken the hands of Friends. But this is evidently a perversion of his 
meaning ; as the v>ord "ordering" plainly implies that there are to be 
soldiers, or servants, in their proper allotments, to obey the Divine 
commands, evidently in allusion to 1 Kings 20:14: and more than 
once during his sickness, he clearly expressed the u unity of his spirit'' 
with those who were still engaged in the conflict against spiritual wick- 
edness in high places j naming several, and sending messages. 

38 



446 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF [18;V>. 

outpourings of the Gospel. He said, -There is a new con- 
gregation to be gathered in Philadelphia. 1 

"He said to his wife, 'there should be such a visitation 
in the earth, as had never been — such a pouring out of the 
Spirit — but it would not be in our day — it would not he 
till the next century. 1 His mind was so filled to overflow- 
ing, with the enjoyments of heaven, that, much of the 
time, he hardly regarded his bodily sufferings. — When 
Martha and Jt. S. N. would urge him to take something to 
strengthen him, lie would look them sweetly in the face, 
and say, ' I have meat to eat, that ye know not of.' On 
fifth-day. when I came from meeting, I found him restless : 
hut. oh. how heavenly was his face ! I could not see that 
he was dying — none of us could see it — in wisdom was it 
hid from US." 

On the twenty-second, the last day of his continuance, 
he said much that could not be understood, owing to his 
great weakness, and the difficulty of articulation above 
alluded to; hut several times in the course of the day, he 
impressively repeated the passage, " That which may be 
known of God, is manifest in man." Towards evening, 
his wife perceiving a change in him, said, "Dearest Tho- 
mas, art thou going':" After one ineffectual attempt to 
speak, he made another effort, and said, "Farewell, fare- 
well, farewell !" which were the last words he uttered. 
Bui he was entirely sensible to the last, understood what 
was said, and responded to it by a look, only a few mi- 
nute- before the close. All the agonies of death appeared 
to have been passed through, previous to this time; his 
breathing, which had been difficult, became easy, but shorter 
and shorter; there was now no struggle, and he quietly 
and peacefully passed away, aboul eight o'clock in the 



mg. 



Thus did it please the Head of the Church, in His fa- 
thomless wisdom, to cut short the work, and remove, in 
the prime of life and the meridian of usefulness, one on 
whom many hopes had been placed of more extensive ser- 
vice in a day to come, for the comfort and strength of the 
remnant left of the captivity; and to whom the hearts of 
the living in Urael had become closely bound, in that fed- 



L856, ] THOlf Lfl i:. GOULD. I 17 

lowship which hath Christ, the Lamb, for its centre — the 
Lord Almighty for its Alpha and its Omega 1 Bui Be who 
the eery fountain of wisdom, shall Be doI ever do 
wisely? And Be that teacheth his servant knowledge, 
shall Be not know what is best for Bis Church and people 
in their every need ? 

In a consideration of the calm, composed and heavenly 
frame of the spirit of this our brother, towards the close 
of his earthly pilgrimage, oven under the pains of mortal 
illness and with the near prospect of dissolution, how clear 

is the evidence that his course had been acceptable to the 
Great Shepherd of the flock : and that he had not followed 

cunningly devised fables in advocating the cause of pure 
and primitive Christianity, and in standing unflinchingly, 
through obloquy and persecution, for the ancient land- 
marks of his profession! Well may Ave adore the good- 
ness of God in making him what he was through His 
Grace; for to Him alone all the praise belongs. And in 
looking at the wonderful foretaste of the joys of Heaven, 
which was thus vouchsafed to him while in the body, for his 
own comfort and support, and for the confirmation of the 
faith of those whom he has left behind, truly may Ave ac- 
knowledge, that " this is the Lord's doing, and marvellous 
in our eyes !" 



AAA 



aMh^ a 



fww* 



n fl 



iliT 



A'WS 







? i a 



ft*l 



Aaaa 






r\ a - -. 



r$ 



7 s . 




^/W* 









ftftfi* 



£ft 



aSAA ^ 



Mfs^daAfiAA^ s - 1 7 i ^ 









PH 



s«w 



' 



^ A 






a** 




NmMH 



AAA 



AftAiflRf 



-A 



.<** 



A A 



~ ~^. A (5 






/■s 





OW r 









inr* 



* - 



H2' 



ft 



^ 






: © c ~ 



,2«Xftiiffl^0S 



rv 



7^* 



r,r\^ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



> 
> 

> 



m 
> 



« 








■> 




